A Rat's Nest
by Purlinka
Summary: Itachi is sent to free an imprisoned Sakura from a diplomatic meeting gone awry. In the process, however, Itachi gets himself captured and joins Sakura in prison. What started as a simple mission becomes far more complicated than either of them dreamed possible. ItaSaku; Non-Massacre; Multiple POVs; Rating may change with future chapters.
1. Questions

**Author's Note:** Hello, everyone! This is a story that I've been plotting for quite some time, and I hope you like it. I didn't want to list this an an AU, but I have made a few changes. First off, this is a Non-Massacre fanfic, and as far as I'm concerned, the Akatsuki don't exist either (but I am madly in love with each Akatsuki member, so the characters will probably make an appearance at some point). Other than that, the plot pretty much explains any other changes I've made to the manga's plot.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto, but if I did, it would be mandatory for all Akatsuki to be naked at all times in the manga/anime.

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><p>~ Chapter 1: Questions ~<p>

Sakura stormed into her office, falling into her chair. "This day needs to end, ugh!" Her head fell to her desk, her pink locks sprawling across the table. It had been a long day for anyone who was a medic; three mass casualties in two days was a lot to ask of the trained shinobi. Sakura kept her head on the desk, too tired to even lift it an inch. Her back was sore, her hands were raw, and her chakra reserves were completely depleted. She was going to have to talk to Tsunade about a very long, very relaxing vacation to somewhere sunny and somewhere people didn't get injured ever.

"Well, you better get used to it." Sakura lifted her head to identify the speaker and found an equally as exhausted Shizune standing in front of her desk. Shizune's face scrunched as she got a better look at Sakura and circled around the desk. "Are you getting sick?" Shizune asked as she felt Sakura's forehead for a fever.

"No, but I wish. I haven't taken a sick day in years, and I think I'm due for one," Sakura mumbled. Being sick would be the best excuse in this situation. With a hospital full of patients already ill and wounded, the last thing the staff needed was a sick medic to slow everyone down and get them sick as well. "Look, I'm fine. See?" She jumped out of her chair with as much energy as she could muster and forced a smile "Look at all this young energy – even Gai would be proud!" The two medics laughed but were interrupted by a nurse's head peeking out from the door.

"Sakura-sama? Your patient Inuzuka Hana has been prepped for surgery and is waiting for you in OR 5." Sakura sighed and nodded to the nurse. She turned to Shizune, who gave her a sad smile of understanding. She excused herself from the office and headed to OR 5 to mend any bones Hana had managed to break this time.

Sakura was used to a demanding pace at the hospital – she was Tsunade's apprentice and she'd been taught to handle even the most extreme of situations – but the last days had been off-the-chart demanding and Sakura found that the hours she logged sleeping remained in the single digits. It just seemed like there was more of everything lately; more broken bones, more ruptured organs, more poisons, more amputations, and definitely more blood. The moment Sakura had put together the fractured pieces of a skull, another patient with renal hemorrhaging was shoved in front of her. But, it wasn't like Tsunade was suddenly assigning anyone who asked on S ranked missions.

Sakura scoffed at the idea. A few sober moments would be an easy fix for any irrational behavior of Tsunade, but that would be too easy. Once Tsunade had taken over, she had turned what was a sad excuse for a hospital into the well-oiled machine that is now Konoha Hospital. In the old days, if you had any type of moderate injury, coming to the hospital was a death wish. You were better off just dying at home. With the new the medical reform Tsunade led, _everything_ was documented. Patients' charts were filed away in the medical archives, and nothing was healed "off the record".

Sakura had never really been interested in the medical archives. Sure, they were convenient in case she needed the medical history of a patient, but she never actually spent the time to go down there; she usually had a nurse fetch the information for her. But, after the last few days, with the massive influx of patients, Sakura had personally made a trip to the archives to see exactly who was getting admitted. They were all ANBU or jonin – not a single chunin, genin, or civilian. It was normal for ANBU and jonin to be admitted more than the others, and it was normal for them to also go on more frequent missions, but this was just crazy. In two days, there had been over forty ANBU admitted, an unprecedented rate. Tsunade was obviously withholding information.

Sakura pushed the door open to the OR, pushing the thoughts out of her head. "How's Hana doing?" she asked, tying her hair up in a ponytail.

"Multiple fractures in the femur and tibia, lacerations on the arms and legs, and severed fingers," a nurse listed. Sakura nodded, then did a double take at the nurse from the mention of severed fingers, but was promptly shown an iced bin with three bloodied fingers waiting to be reattached.

Sakura positioned herself beside Hana and focused medical chakra to her hands. After a long sigh, she motioned for the nurse holding the fingers to stand beside her. "Those fingers can't wait forever. Let's get started."

Letting the green chakra cover her hands, she picked up what seemed to be the index finger. She focused the chakra onto the nerve ending of finger and doing the same for the stump on Hana's left hand. Once the blood capillaries and chakra passages were opened, she aligned the finger to the stump and then reconnected the bone, the muscle tissue, and finally the skin.

While Sakura repeated her actions for the middle finger, the door to the ER opened. She smiled as she recognized the chakra signature.

"Uchiha-san, unless you recently became a certified med-nin without my knowledge, then you need to leave," she said, making finishing touches on the middle finger. Once it was reattached, Sakura looked over her shoulder to see Uchiha Itachi standing in the doorway, his clothes and hair ragged and messy. It seemed that wherever Hana had come from, Itachi was returning from as well.

"I mean no disrespect, Haruno-san. I am only here to inquire about Hana-san's condition," Itachi said, his voice was measured and calm; a clear contrast from how he looked.

"And I'm sure she appreciates your concern, but that doesn't change the fact that you need to leave," Sakura smiled, then returned to her work. She knew the Uchiha would never admit his concern, but Hana and Itachi have been teammates since their genin days. Itachi stood in the doorway for a moment longer, but silently left, the door closing behind him.

After another two hours of healing the rest of Hana's injuries, Sakura applied the bandages and helped one of the nurses roll Hana back to her hospital room. As they turned the corner, she saw Itachi leaned against the wall outside the door to Hana's room. He looked up at the sound of the rolling hospital bed.

Sakura opened the door of Hana's room, and the nurse rolled the bed inside and connected her to the various monitors in the room. Sakura stood outside the room for a moment, appearing to be overlooking the nurse's work. She didn't look at the Uchiha standing a few feet away.

"The surgery went well and the fingers reattached nicely," She paused for a moment, then turned her head to Itachi, "She's going to be fine, Uchiha-san." As Sakura walked away, she saw his shoulders relax a fraction of an inch.

Sakura walked down the hallway, mentally going through the conditions of her patients and what they would need in the next twenty-four hours. She walked to the main hospital desk where she returned the medical charts of her patients. As Sakura shuffled through papers, Shizune spotted her and trotted over to where she stood.

"Hey! I've got some good news," Shizune said.

"I'm getting my paycheck early?" Sakura offered, giving Shizune a tired smile.

"Nope, even better," Shizune grinned, "They're letting us go home! All the patients are stable, and it doesn't look like we'll be getting another influx anytime soon, so the whole surgical staff has been ordered to go home and sleep."

"I get to sleep? Oh kami, you're right, that is better than an early paycheck – _way_ better," Sakura said, very excited at the idea of being reunited with her gorgeous bed.

Shizune let out a small laugh, "Yeah, and you need it – we all need it. Everyone's been working either double or triple shifts since the first group came in. Go home, Sakura. You've worked hard." Shizune gave Sakura one last smile and squeezed her shoulder before walking away.

_I get to sleep!_ Sakura thought, still not believing that she was actually able to go home. It wasn't something to brag about, but Sakura was one of those who were just about to finish their third shift. Willing her muscles to move, she walked away from the main desk to her office.

In her office, Sakura grabbed her bag and stuffed it with everything she needed to go home: wallet, keys, weapon pouch, medical pouch, etc. The bag felt heavy as she slung it over her shoulder, but then again, she had practically been living in her office for three days, so the weight was expected. Sakura barely processed the walk home and was surprised when she eventually made it to her doorstep.

She fumbled with her keys, opening the door. Sakura had a small apartment – just a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and small living area at the entrance – but she loved it. Despite being female and a shinobi, Sakura didn't have a lot of junk, except for the many bookshelves of medical texts. The space was just enough for someone who spent most of their time away from home. She kicked off her shoes next to the door, and tossed her bag onto the couch. Trudging along, Sakura finally made it to her bed and dived onto the burgundy blanket. She didn't even bother getting under the covers and slept in the position she'd fallen into.

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><p>"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bellowed, throwing the door to Sakura's apartment open. Not getting a response, he repeated his actions to her bedroom door, "Sakura-chan! Wake up!"<p>

Sakura groaned and lift her head, eyes half-lidded as observed Naruto. "Go. Away. Now."

"Aw, Sakura-chan, don't be like that! Kakashi, Sai, and Sasuke-teme are here too – we haven't all been home in a long time," Naruto said, his voice not getting any softer as her plied Sakura away from her bed, dragging her to the kitchen. Sakura shook off Naruto and stood on her own, taking in a grinning Naruto, Kakashi with his eye crinkled, Sasuke with his arms folded across his chest, and Sai was focused on one of his drawings.

"Well, now that I'm up, you better have a good reason for waking me," Sakura growled, pointedly looking at Naruto, who shrunk away from the enraged woman.

"We're all going to go to Ichiraku for some ramen, and we hoped you could come," Naruto explained.

"Hn," Sasuke grunted, leaning back against the kitchen counter.

"Shut up, Sasuke-teme," Naruto looked back at Sasuke to growl, but then turned back to Sakura with his signature smile, "Please, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura just stood, staring at the two boys and weighing her options. She could go back to bed, but she would probably get dragged to Ichiraku's anyway, or she could willfully go now and sleep more later . . . Yeah, definitely the latter.

"Fine. Just let me go shower and get dressed," Sakura said, remembering she was still in her medic clothes that were caked with various bodily fluids from the hospital. She trudged her way to the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Sakura looked at her reflection in the small wall mirror and was disgusted at how she looked: her hair was matted down and oily, her face had smudges of blood on it, and her clothes were sticky from numerous surgeries and the sweat from running around the ER.

Turning the shower on, Sakura peeled her clothes off while the water warmed up. The clothes made a smelly pile on the floor, and she made a mental note to wash them the first chance she could go to the laundromat. She stepped into the steaming shower and let out an appreciative sigh. She hadn't showered in a few days and was just starting to feel how grimy she was. Grabbing her scented soap and shampoo, she lathered every inch of skin with the cleansing foams.

Once the soaps had been washed away, she indulged a little, letting herself stand under the steaming water for more than necessary; Sakura expected a very large water bill to come in the mail. But, Sakura's water therapy ended when a muffled voice came from outside the door. "Sakura-chan, hurry up! I'm _so _hungry!" Naruto whined.

Forcing herself to separate from the warm and steamy goodness of the shower, Sakura gasped as her skin was shocked from the frigid air outside the bathroom. She wrapped a towel around her and walked into her bedroom, throwing on a fitted red t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Although she was in her casual clothes, she still put her medical pack and weapons pouch in her purse just in case; the world had a funny way of interrupting any fun she tried to have.

"Okay, let's go," Sakura announced to the four boys once she stepped out of her bedroom. After slipping on some sandals and slinging her purse over her shoulder, Team 7 left for Ichiraku.

Outwardly, Sakura was reluctant to be dragged to Ichiraku and eat that artery-clogging ramen, but she was happy that Naruto had asked. When Sasuke entered ANBU, and Naruto and Sakura had passed their jonin exams, Kakashi returned to his status as an ANBU captain. Besides that, Sakura held the position of Chief Medic which consumed all her time, Sasuke always had clan politics to worry about, Sai was involved with ROOT, Kakashi never left his house, and Naruto was in the process of being groomed to be the next Hokage. Between all of that and missions, they rarely saw each other. So, when Naruto dragged them all to ramen, she was always happy to get some time with her boys.

Besides, Sakura had some talking to do with Sasuke and Kakashi this time. Sakura remembered seeing their names on the list of admitted patients yesterday, which meant they had information about what caused the massive amount of injuries among ANBU.

They neared the stall, and Naruto eagerly sat on one of the stools. Sai followed the blonde and sat next to him, but before the other two boys could sit down, Sakura grabbed both of them by their arms. They both looked at her with confused expressions, but Sakura ignored them. "Naruto, go ahead and order for us, okay? We'll be back in a moment," She yelled to Naruto, who just waved his hand without looking and yelled "okay" back.

"Sakura-chan–" Kakashi began to say, but Sakura quickly shushed him and put her hands on her hips.

"I don't give a crap about either of your oh-so-high-and-mighty ANBU statuses or that I am a jonin. You _will _tell me what I need to know," She poked each of them in the chest with every word. The two wide-eyed men stared at Sakura and slowly nodded. "Tell me what mission you were on that landed both of you in the hospital."

They looked at each other, silently deciding who would face Sakura's wrath first. Apparently, it was Sasuke. "Sakura, don't be irrational. You know we can't disclose such information." Just as he finished, Sakura grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer.

"Talk, Uchiha!" Sasuke's eyes grew for moment, but he escaped with a poof, leaving behind a cloud of ash. Clearly noticing that he had been ditched, Kakashi was angry but then fearful as he realized he had to face Sakura's wrath alone.

"Sakura-chan, let's be nice to your old sensei, hm?" Kakashi's eye crinkled nervously as he held his hands up.

"I spent three straight days in that hospital, two of which were piecing together your comrades. I deserve to know, damn it!" Sakura was yelling now. She had just been plain exhausted earlier, but as it dawned on her what she had been put through the last few days, she was getting really pissed off. You couldn't just ask her to waste mass amounts of energy without a reason.

Kakashi looked at her for a few silent moments, the only sound between them being Sakura's angry breaths. His face was serious. "Sakura, I want to tell you, but I can't. Tsunade made sure all ANBU couldn't talk about the missions, so I literally _can't_ tell you; you have to talk to Tsunade if you want answers." Kakashi put his hands in his pockets and headed back to Ichiraku.

For a few moments, Sakura stood there, fuming with anger and frustration. She knew that ANBU information was classified, but they were Team 7! They had broken almost every rule in the book, including ones about mission details – why would now be any different?

Sakura sighed, easing her shoulders lower and calming her angry heart rate. Yes, she was frustrated – unbelievably so – but ranting and threatening her teammates would get her nowhere. They were only trying to be good shinobi, and if something was truly wrong, they'd tell her . . . right?

* * *

><p>Sakura sat on the floor of the archives in Konoha Hospital, skimming over patient reports of ANBU. She didn't really care about the names or medical history of the patients; she was focused on the list of injuries in the last week. If they ANBU all had a certain type of injury, Sakura would be able to link it to a certain fighting or jutsu style of a region or organization. But, after hours sitting on the wooden floors, she was still empty handed.<em> Concussion from stone shards, charred skin, waterlogged lungs . . .<em> the list of injuries held no patterns to where they had been and no hints to what they had been assigned to do.

Sakura had been trying to get in contact with Tsunade all day. After a peaceful (but fattening) ramen dinner with Team 7, Sakura realized that what Kakashi said was true: If she wanted answers, she would have to talk to Tsunade.

Her first move was to make an old-fashioned appointment to see Tsunade. When she asked Tsunade's new secretary when the Hokage was free, she smiled and said all day. However, when Sakura said she wanted to make an appointment, mentioning her name at some point, the secretary frowned and said that she could not make an appointment for her.

Sakura didn't press the issue but switched tactics instead. This time, she sat outside Tsunade's office door. The strategy assumed that, at some point, Tsunade would enter her office. This held true because sure enough, Tsunade walked up the staircase. But, just as Tsunade stepped onto the landing and Sakura was about to open her mouth, Tsunade held up her hand and said "Not now," and proceeded to slam her office door in Sakura's face.

She had tried multiple stalking strategies, but they all failed pretty miserably, which eventually led to Sakura sitting where she was, equally as clueless as before about what was going on. While she had found some interesting facts, they only proved to confuse her even more. For one, she found that there was a separate room in the archive that required recognized chakra signatures and therefore was locked to those who didn't have clearance. There only person who had higher clearance than her and that was Tsunade, but the door wouldn't open to Sakura's chakra signature. That was new.

She walked up and down the rows of shelves filled with stacks of papers, but found no answers or even hints. "Argh!" Sakura yelled into the cavernous archive, her voice echoing off the cement walls. Throwing her hands in the air, she stormed out of the archive building and returned to her office; she was late for her hospital shift.

As Sakura walked into her office, she was surprised to see Uchiha Itachi and Inuzuka Hana sitting across from her desk. She stood for a moment in the doorway, her eyebrows quirked upwards, but moved to sit down at the desk. Placing her hands on the table, she looked at the two ANBU. "What can I do for you?"

Itachi didn't say anything, but turned to Hana, who clearly didn't want to be in Sakura's office right now. Itachi's glare intensified. "Ugh, fine!" Hana huffed, "Thank you – there I said it, can we go now Itachi?" Sakura was extremely confused. When had she ever gotten a thank you from an ANBU? And why was Hana consulting Itachi? Whatever it was, Itachi wasn't making a move to leave, sitting perfectly still in the chair.

"Uh, Inuzuka-san, it really wasn't a problem at all. You were injured, and I'm a medic; healing is just what I do." Sakura nervously laughed at the end; the atmosphere in her office was getting increasingly more awkward as the Inuzuka and Uchiha kept glaring at each other.

"That's not all, is it Hana-san?" Itachi said. Hana flinched and grimaced.

". . . Thank you, Haruno, for healing me even when it was my own fault." Hana crossed her arms across her chest. Now Sakura was definitely confused. Had Itachi just brought her in to admit she made a mistake in the field? That was pretty low, even for an Uchiha.

"Inuzuka-san, having your fingers cut off wasn't your fault, so really, apologizing isn't necessary." _This is becoming more and more ridiculous, why won't they leave?_ Sakura thought, impatiently waiting for this conversation to end. What they were saying didn't make sense and it was wasting her time. Sakura hardly wanted to do paperwork, but even that looked more appealing that continuing to figure out this conundrum.

'What Hana-san means to say," Itachi stepped in, "is that she thanks you for using your valuable chakra to heal her fingers that she irrationally cut off–" Itachi said, ever so calmly. Sakura on the other hand, was internally freaking out. _What? She cut off her own fingers? _It wasn't the idea of a shinobi cutting off their own fingers that baffled Sakura, it was the fact that an ANBU, a highly trained and skilled shinobi, had to cut off their fingers. Things like that were usually reserved for stupid mistakes made by genin or chunin.

"–It wasn't irrational! I had to in order to open that damn–" Hana started to defend herself, but before the words could come out, her mouth quickly closed shut. Hana mumbled behind the closed lips, but then huffed and slouched in her chair. Itachi seemed to understand what had happened, and stood up to leave. Sakura's eyebrows were quirked as she stared at the two.

"Thank you for your time, Haruno-san, and I hope you will forgive Hana-san for her idiocy," Itachi said, nodding a fraction of an inch in Sakura's direction. _That. Is. It!_ Sakura whipped her arm out, grabbing Hana by the arm from across the table before the two could leave.

"I would be more than happy to forgive Inuzuka-san for her actions, if she is willing to do one small task for me." Sakura said in a voice that was sickeningly sweet. Hana quirked her eyebrow, but when Itachi nodded his head, she said nodded as well.

"All you have to do is go up to the Hokage tower in the next few minutes and make an appointment with Tsunade under _your_ name, and then convince the secretary to take a very long lunch break." Sakura grinned. This day was finally getting a little better; maybe she would get to talk to Tsunade after all, even if it meant using Hana.

Hana turned to face Sakura. "Let me get this straight, you want me to make an appointment and then tell some chick to eat lunch? That's all?" Sakura nodded her head. "Fine – but only because you're a damn good medic."

"Thank you Inuzuka-san. Your kindness is always appreciated," Sakura kept smiling, mentally doing a victory dance. Sakura waited for Itachi and Hana to leave before she literally leapt into the air. She hoped people outside her office couldn't hear her singing.

Sakura waited an hour before making her way to the Hokage tower, hoping that Hana had followed her directions. As she walked up the stairwell leading to the Hokage's office, Sakura smiled when she saw the secretary's desk was empty. To make sure Tsunade still thought it was Hana coming in for the appointment, she repeated the ANBU-only knock pattern on the large wooden door.

"Enter!" Tsunade boomed from behind the door. Sakura slipped into the room, closing the door behind with a soft click. Tsunade never looked up from her paperwork. "It's unusual for you to make an appointment, Hana," Tsunade said as she scribbled something on the scroll in front of her.

"That would be because I'm not Hana," Sakura said, tempted to smile because of how well her plan was working out so far. Tsunade's head snapped up, and her eyes widened a fraction as she realized her mistake and who was really standing in front of her desk.

"Sakura," Tsunade said, but her voice was reluctant. It seemed as though the blonde was completely unprepared for this encounter.

"Tsunade-shishou." Sakura nodded her head and gave a shallow bow.

Sakura could almost hear the ticks on the clock as silence passed between them. Tsunade leaned her head on her hand, rubbing her temples. "What do you want, Sakura?" Tsunade sighed.

"Do I have permission to speak freely?" Sakura asked. Her was posture straight and her hands were held behind her back. If Tsunade wanted to place the indifferent game, so could Sakura.

Tsunade considered Sakura for a moment, and then leaned back into her chair. "Permission granted." Sakura walked forward and sat in one of the chairs in front of the Hokage's desk.

"I believe you owe me an explanation, shishou." Sakura said in a very matter-of-fact tone. Tsunade's face remained blank.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Sakura."

"Really? So, you have no explanation why Inuzuka Hana felt it was necessary to cut off her fingers on an ANBU mission?" Sakura stared straight at Tsunade and didn't even blink. When Tsunade didn't say anything, Sakura continued. "So then you definitely don't have an explanation why I – your _Chief Medic_ – have had to piece together over forty ANBU within the time span of a few days?" Sakura let her words hang in the air. Tsunade sighed.

"Sakura . . . I meant to tell you–" Tsunade started. Her voice was quiet and her words were slow.

"–Well, you can tell me now." Tsunade may be her Hokage and her shishou, but it was about time she had answers, and she was willing to be a bitch to get them. Tsunade just stared at her. "You have never kept me out of the loop before, shishou, so why now? Why go as far as to silence my teammates?"

"Sakura, I didn't silence Kakashi and Sasuke to keep you out. In fact, I silenced _every_ ANBU operative, regardless of whether or not they were sent on the recent missions." Sakura's brow knit together. Tsunade laughed to herself. "ANBU shinobi have been gossiping too much recently about Konoha politics and missions, and I need absolute secrecy about what is going on, so it seemed like the right move to seal the their tongues before I even gave out the information." Sakura nodded her head. Rationally, it made sense to cut information chains at the source, but it still pissed her off.

"That still doesn't answer my question," Sakura pointed out. Although she had an explanation for why ANBU had become so cautious with their words lately, she still didn't know why they had to be cautious in the first place.

Tsunade was silent for a moment, and Sakura could see the blonde organizing her words, but she didn't expect the Hokage to start where she did. "How much do you know about the treaty between the Five Great Shinobi Nations?" Tsunade finally said, but immediately confused Sakura even more. The treaty? That thing was hundreds of years old and had become pretty much forgotten in modern shinobi politics – why was it relevant now?

Sakura mentally unfiled the information she had stored on the treaty that she had gotten from her shinobi history classes at the academy. Before the first Kages, war was rampant throughout the entire shinobi world. Eventually, five incredibly powerful and well-watched groups were left; every other group was demolished against the five.

However, once they started fighting each other, the five groups lost shinobi as fast as they were recruiting them, and they finally decided that the fighting was getting nowhere. Each group chose a member to meet with the other representatives on neutral ground where they all signed a peace treaty that would ensure that no group became more powerful that the others and that they would stand as a united front.

When these five groups conglomerated into nations, they became what is now Konoha, Suna, Kiri, Iwa, and Kumo. After the first Kages were finally chosen, they met again and decided to renew the treaty and enact it as international shinobi law.

Nowadays the treaty was just a story and held no significance. The "Five Great Shinobi Nations" were now the "Five Extremely Bitter Rivals", each country secretly hoping for their demise so their country could prevail.

With the information refreshed in her mind, Sakura finally replied. "I know enough, why?"

"Three months ago, a jounin team was doing a routine mission in Kumogakure – a simple B rank intelligence mission to check up on them. But, the minute they crossed the Kumo border, they were attacked by Kumo shinobi. Fortunately, the jounin team had no problem defending themselves, and they eventually restrained the Kumo shinobi for questions. When asked why they attacked, they said it was orders." Tsunade looked up at Sakura.

"What was the order? Who was it from?" Sakura asked. She told herself to stay calm; it was common for clients to hire shinobi of another nation for such things.

"Their orders were to kill all Konoha shinobi on sight." Tsunade pulled out her sake bottle, and took a large gulp. "Our intelligence has confirmed that these were personal orders from the Raikage." Tsunade let out a small, breathy laugh. "That's not even the best part. One month ago, we got intelligence that the Mizukage and the Tsuichikage have allied themselves with the Raikage and have given the same order to their shinobi. Essentially, we now have three powerful shinobi nations turned against us, and we don't know why."

Sakura looked down as her eyes flickered sporadically, as though looking for answers in the wood of the desk. "But if you knew about the orders, then why send out forty-some ANBU? Where did you send them?" Sakura said. When she had been looking for answers earlier, tracking down Tsunade, she never would have thought that this is what she would hear.

Tsunade opened one of the desk draws and pulled out a black scroll – an ANBU scroll. Tsunade unsealed the scroll and rolled it out in front of Sakura; it was the official mission scroll. "Four teams of ANBU were sent to each nation. Three of them were assigned to gather intelligence, and the last team was to talk with the Kage to see if some agreement was possible. However, when our shinobi arrived at their assigned nations, enemy teams were waiting for them. They knew we were coming. That's why I've been so hyperactive about information recently; I haven't figured out where the leak is."

Sakura sat in the chair, sinking into the worn cushions as she processed this information. Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa were all roughly a four to five day trip, which explained why the hospital had gotten three large influxes around the same time. But then Sakura remembered something.

"What about Hana? How does this explain her fingers?" Sakura asked. Tsunade let out a breathy laugh.

"Hana was on one of the teams sent to Iwa and found a scroll she thought contained valuable information. Historically, Iwa ninja tend to be pretty drastic when it comes to sacrifices needed to open scrolls, so Hana cut off her fingers thinking that would be enough of a sacrifice. The scroll didn't even budge, but when Itachi did a simple release jutsu, the thing opened." Tsunade started to laugh, "Turns out it was all a waste; the damn scroll was blank." Tsunade's laughing tapered off, and both the kunoichi were silent for a few moments.

"Sakura, you know I trust you wholeheartedly. In every single matter, you are one of the first – if not, the _first _– person I go to. I know this isn't much of an explanation, but what has happened in the last few weeks has turned into one of the most fragile political situations I've ever had to deal with, and I have just been so stressed, that I didn't even know how to approach this topic with you."

The two kunoichi smiled at one another, their eyes softening as a silent understanding passed between them. Sakura even felt a little guilty now for getting so angry at Tsunade. Hell, if it were Sakura in Tsunade's position, she would have retired early and said "You deal with it" to her replacement.

Sakura took a deep breath. "So, what now?"

"Now? I don't know Sakura. Every time I order a team to near any of these countries, I'm worried they won't return." Tsunade opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it and her brow furrowed. Tsunade straightened in her seat. A long, silent moment passed between them as Tsunade looked at Sakura with a serious expression. "I did have one idea though," Tsunade said, her gaze breaking as she averted her eyes from Sakura.

Tsunade momentarily looked back at Sakura to see her reaction, but Sakura's silence was enough to tell her to continue.

"You," Tsunade said, "You were my idea."

"W-what? I-I don't understand . . ." Sakura rarely stammered, but this seemed like an appropriate time to forget how to formulate words.

"When Killer Bee was training Naruto, the two of you became very close, didn't you?" It took Sakura a moment, but she did remember her time with the hachibi container. Sakura had accompanied Naruto during his training with Killer Bee, and while Killer Bee waited for Naruto to complete a task, he would often hang out with her. The two had came to respect each other as shinobi and as friends.

"Yes, we are friends, but how does my relation to Killer Bee have anything to do with this?" Sakura crossed her arms and leaned back in her chain, contemplating Tsunade's words.

Tsunade mirrored Sakura's pose. "Right now, I need a long conversation with the Raikage, who seems to be the cause of all this." Tsunade's face momentarily scowled, "I would go myself, but the councel has forbidden me from leaving the country, openly threatening to take away my position as Hokage. Therefore, to get what I need, I have to send someone in my place–"

"–But, the kill-on-sight order is still in effect, so you can't send any Konoha shinobi, and you can't send Suna shinobi because getting them involved would complicate things even more." Sakura finished Tsunade's sentence, finally seeing where this was heading. Tsunade nodded.

"And with the possibility of war on our hands, I wouldn't dare send someone who couldn't defend themselves, so non-shinobi are out of the question as well." Tsunade looked at Sakura for a moment again, "But sending you might work."

Tsunade stood up and walked to a cabinet in the corner. Sending some chakra into the lock, the drawer opened, and Tsunade took out two pieces of paper. She placed them on the desk in front of Sakura before turning to look outside the window. As Tsunade gazed at Konoha, Sakura looked at the papers. Her eyes skimmed the messy handwriting which obviously belonged to a male.

The first sheet was a letter from Killer Bee to his brother, the Raikage. It was written in his signature rap style and told of Naruto's progress, but the second half of the letter solely talked about Killer Bee's admiration for Sakura's intelligence and skills as both a med-nin and a jonin shinobi. Sakura smiled to herself.

She flipped the page to read the second letter, this time from the Raikage to Tsunade. She skimmed the equally-as-messy handwriting. It was clear that the Raikage was the one who sent Killer Bee's letter to Tsunade. Sakura wasn't surprised read the Raikage's praise of Naruto's impressive power, but Sakura stopped at the last sentence. "_Your apprentice is welcome anytime inside Kumogakure borders_."

Sakura stared at the sentence for a few moments. She had no idea the Raikage had granted her such access, and she also had no idea that Killer Bee had spoken so highly of her to cause such a thing.

Tsunade looked over and saw Sakura had finished reading. "The Raikage seems to have a positive regard for you and Naruto. I thought about sending Naruto, but the council has forced him to stay within Konoha as well," Tsunade explained, "Sakura, you are the only shinobi I can trust sending because I know your skills are of ANBU-caliber and your tactical intelligence rivals Shikamaru's, so I know any diplomatic decisions you make I would agree with."

Tsunade turned to face Sakura, walking to where she sat. "I can't force you to go, especially since I have to send you alone. But, you should know that you would be doing a great service to Konoha and a personal favor to me."

Sakura thought about the Hokage's words. She was being offered a solo mission that had no guarantee of success. Sakura ran scenarios in her head. She would get to the border, be confronted by Kumo shinobi, and would definitely we recognized by her bright pink hair. From there, three things could happen: a) the kill-on-sight would still apply to her because of her affiliation to Konoha, b) they would take her prisoner for questioning because it was a well-known fact that she was part of Tsunade's inner circle, or c) they would remember her as Killer Bee's friend and let her pass through.

Sakura was confident in her skills; Tsunade had sent her on ANBU missions before, and she had performed well. But, it was a different situation entirely if it was just Sakura against an entire team of enemy shinobi. Sakura stared straight ahead, thinking about the offer, and Tsunade stared at Sakura, hoping she would accept.

After what seemed like ten minutes, Sakura finally met Tsunade's gaze. "I'll do it."

Tsunade let out the breath she had been holding and gave Sakura a bittersweet smile. Reaching to her desk, she picked up a scroll. "Here's your mission. You need to leave for Kumo tonight."

Sakura gave a shallow bow and accepted the scroll. "Yes, Tsunade-shishou."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Sorry if this was a bit too information-heavy. This sort of served as my prologue-ish chapter because it was really important that I set this up now so you guys actually understand the storyline later. Hope you liked it!


	2. Run

**Author's Note**: Thank you _so_ much to everyone that reviewed, subscribed, or favorite'd chapter one! I can't believe the response I got! Thank you! I also want to thank everyone who messaged me about trying to get a new chapter out. I chose a very bad time to start a fanfic considering I'm at a hectic time in my life getting ready to leave for college, dealing with family issues, and starting a new fulltime job, but I really appreciate all of you that have been so patient with me. Without further waiting, here is chapter two – enjoy!

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Naruto . . . yet . . .

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><p>~ Chapter 2: Run ~<p>

After she finished talking with Tsunade, Sakura headed straight to her apartment. It was only two o'clock in the afternoon, so she had plenty of time to get her supplies packed.

As she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, she started to make a mental list of everything she would need. _Medical supplies, kunai, shuriken, soldier pills . . . _The list went on, containing everything from the standard weapon pouches to stocking up on dried foods for the trek through the cold terrain of Kumogakure. Although Kumogakure seemed pretty close, the capital was positioned surprising far north, and the weather would be a stark difference from the moderate September days Konoha had right now.

In her apartment, Sakura made a physical list, checking things off that were in the apartment or that could be easily restocked. She smiled as the list was almost completely crossed off; Sakura kept most of her supply stocks within various closets and cabinets in her apartment. But, she soon frowned when she looked at the very last item on the list that was the only item unchecked:clothes. Sakura groaned, realizing that the clothes she had on were the last of her clean clothes; she needed to do laundry.

She scoured the apartment, picking up every piece of clothing, cringing at some pieces whose smell had festered and fermented since she had discarded them on the floor. She really only needed a few changes of clothes that she could reuse on the mission, but she might as well wash everything else if she was going to make a trip to the laundromat. She loaded all the dirty laundry into a drawstring bag, hauled it over her shoulder, and set off for the laundromat before it closed.

The laundromat was fairly close to Sakura's apartment, but then again, everything was pretty close to her apartment. Sakura had been very strategic in her selection of an apartment so that her life would be as convenient as humanly possible. However, if she truly wanted to make her life more convenient, she probably would have used that extra cash from her last paycheck to buy a washer and drier set to have installed in her apartment instead of constantly going to the laundromat; there is nothing more embarrassing than folding your lacy underwear and bras in front of your comrades. Sakura had suffered many times through the rounds of whistles and hoots.

Sakura cringed as a particular memory as she entered the laundromat. Swinging the glass doors opened, Sakura tentatively scanned the washers and driers that lined the walls. She was usually pretty good about being the only one in there when she did her laundry, but today she saw a drier spinning clothes and a basket filled with carefully folded shirts and pants. Sakura looked closer at the white-walled room, checking for signs of the clothes' owner. For now, it seemed she was alone.

Taking advantage of the owner's apparent disappearance, she quickly loaded the first batch of clothes into the washer, measuring detergent and turning the dials for the proper water temperature and spin cycle. She sat on the counter next to the washer and waited for the thirty-minute cycle to end. As time passed, Sakura gradually relaxed, realizing that if the owner hadn't showed up by now, he probably wouldn't at all.

But, of course, the world hates Sakura when she's off-duty.

The bell on the door trilled, and Sakura whipped her head in its direction, only to see Uchiha Itachi standing in the doorway. They stared at one another for a moment, and from his look, it seemed he was just as displeased to have company here. Sakura was the first to look away, jumping off the counter when the washer's timer rang. Seeing that she had returned working, Itachi walked towards the drier his clothes were in, which happened to be across from Sakura.

With their backs to each other, they both worked in silence. Itachi took out the warm pile of clothes and placed them on the counter, replacing their spot in the drier with a new load of soaking clothes. Sakura was equally as silent as she put her wet clothes aside and reloaded the washer. As time passed, however, her wet clothes piled up on the counter, and Sakura realized she would have to move them to a drier if she wanted to leave in a timely fashion.

Taking an armful of wet clothes, she carried them to the drier next to Itachi's. His eyes shifted to her in question, and she rolled her eyes. It wasn't like she wanted to work next to the expressionless Uchiha, but Sakura knew from experience that there were only three driers that actually worked in this place – the laundromat owner hadn't replaced a single machine in years – and it just so happens that Itachi was using one, and the other two were on either side of him. She could feel his eyes still staring at her in question. Her shoulders sagged with a frustrated sigh.

"The driers next to you are the only ones that actually work," she said, returning his glare.

"Hn," he responded, pausing for a moment before returning to his folding. As Sakura sat and watched her clothes dry, she let her eyes wander to watch the Uchiha heir, but realized that was a mistake because she had to stifle a giggle. The Uchiha looked like a misplaced housewife as he folded the clothes, smoothing wrinkles with experienced ease. _All he needs is an apron_,she thought, coughing lightly to try and hide her chuckles. Itachi stopped his work to look at the pink-haired medic.

"Do you find something humorous, Haruno-san?" Itachi's glare bore into Sakura, but it only made her cough harder, making her choke now.

She bit her lip and managed to calm herself, despite the images fluttering in her mind of Itachi wearing an apron while he cooked for his spouse. "I'm sorry – I, uh, was thinking of . . . something," Sakura said, her smile reflecting in her voice. He continued to stare at her, and his eyebrow minutely drifted upward.

Realizing Itachi wasn't going to stop staring without an answer, she nodded to his clothes. "I would have never expected you to be so good at folding clothes, Uchiha-san."

Itachi looked away from her to look at his work, and then turned to look at her massive pile of clothes. "Yes, well, I never thought it was possible for one to possess so much clothing," He said, turning back to look at her, "Your wardrobe is a bit frivolous, Haruno-san."

She laughed, surprised that Itachi made such a comment. But, she still felt the need to defend herself; she didn't want someone like Uchiha Itachi to think that she was some materialistic woman. She had no doubt that title would follow her on any mission she had with the man.

"I'm not materialistic. I'm busy. Surely, you of all people should understand the time demands of our occupation. But, I have a mission, so I'm cleaning my entire apartment to get ready for when I leave," she explained, still smiling.

"A long assignment?" he asked, and she nodded her head. She knew she couldn't disclose information about her mission, but telling him how long it would be couldn't hurt. She planned on telling Sasuke anyway, so the information was bound to reach Itachi eventually.

"I never like to come home to a dirty apartment; it makes me feel stressed when I should be relaxing after a mission," she sighed. Sakura hated it when she would come home exhausted and chakra depleted from a mission only to realize she had a long day of cleaning ahead of her because her food was rancid, she had no clean clothes, and the floors were inexplicably sticky.

Itachi didn't speak after that, so Sakura didn't either. They both finished their laundry in silence; the only sounds were the hum from the machines and the creaking of the tables they worked on.

When she finished her laundry, she piled it back into the drawstring bag she had brought with her and left to finish preparing for her mission. She still had to go buy dried fruits and nuts to pack in case food was scarce up north. And then there was the rest of the cleaning she had to do, and the packing, and the notes she would have to send her team so they knew she was gone. Then she could leave. _Better get to work_, she thought.

After a few hours of scrubbing and packing, her apartment was spotless and she was ready to leave. It was about ten-thirty at night, and Sakura was happy with her time management; she could actually leave early for Kumo. As she headed for the door, she placed three envelopes on the kitchen counter. She slung her backpack over her head, adjusting the single-strapped bag so it was positioned correctly and wouldn't hurt her chest during the long hours of travel. She had made concentrated batches of all her medical creams and solutions so they would take up less space, and Sakura was able to fit all her medical supplies into one pack which was strapped to her hip.

She wore a pair of tight black pants, with the legs tucked into her sleek lace-up boots. On top, Sakura wore a fitted long sleeve shirt and a light grey ANBU vest, which she had "borrowed" from the ANBU headquarters months ago to replace her annoying, bulky jonin vest that _mysteriously_ vanished. Sakura didn't usually plan out every single detail of her outfit, but in this case, even her undergarments were planned. Although she preferred bras, she had put on chest bandages for easier movement and had replaced her lacy bikini-cut panties for some boy-shorts. Sakura huffed when she had to put away her feminine garments; she may be a top kunoichi, but wearing the flashy undergarments made her feel more like a woman when she was cracking sternums and elbow-deep in blood.

She took her time to walk to Konoha's eastern gate, savoring her time in the village before she would be indefinitely living in the forests until she reached Kumo. She passed by Sai and Kakashi's apartments, both of which live by the eastern gate, but she didn't bother saying goodbye; the notes she sent to her boys were enough. Besides, she was sure she'd be home soon.

* * *

><p>Soon after Sakura left the laundromat, Itachi finished his own work. The whole time he was repeatedly cursing his mother for demanding he do his laundry immediately. Women were so insufferable.<p>

As he finished folding the last few shirts, there was something Sakura said that suddenly made him pause; he saw irregularities. She had said she was going on a long mission, but Itachi knew for a fact that the Hokage wasn't assigning missions to anyone after the wave of failed ANBU assignments earlier this week. Even genin and chunin were stuck here until Tsunade felt confident enough to send even the weakest of shinobi outside the safety of Konoha's sealed walls. So what mission could Sakura possibly have been sent on? Itachi considered only for a moment that she was lying, but his ever-present sharingan halted his suspicions.

Itachi walked through the archway of the Uchiha compound, passing through the streets which had been cleared hours ago as his fellow clansmen retreated inside to settle for the night. He scoffed. The night was no time to settle, nor was anytime for that matter. It mystified the prodigy how the _prestigious _Uchiha clan was so lax and unguarded most of the time. Itachi barely respected his clan's power recently, considering their legendary strength a thing of the past when he saw his uncles stumble through the same arches, drunk with a woman on each arm.

He finally made it to his house within the compound, arriving apparently in the middle of dinner. His brow furrowed for a fraction of a second, realizing he hadn't missed dinner as he had planned. Slightly annoyed, he walked into their modest dining room and looked upon the three members of his family. His father and Sasuke didn't look up, but his mother immediately met his gaze and grinned. "Welcome home, Itachi!" Mikoto crooned, "After you clean-up, please join us for dinner."

Itachi followed his mother's orders, washing his hands and face before seating himself at the low table. He sat cross-legged with a stiff posture similar to his father's and waited for his mother to serve him before eating. The four ate in silence before Itachi finally spoke.

"Sasuke," Itachi said, "I spoke with your teammate, Haruno-san, today." At the mention of Sakura, Sasuke's chopsticks flinched, dropping a piece of salted fish. Sasuke recovered the food and grunted at his brother. Mikoto, on the other hand, was very interested in the topic.

"That's lovely! How is Sakura-san?" Mikoto said, smiling. Itachi was aware that Mikoto had become fond of Sakura, and he didn't doubt that his mother wished she had a daughter in addition to her two boys. He knew Mikoto longed for a child she was actually allowed to dote over without being scolded by the elders, but she had no daughters to fulfill this dream. When Mikoto heard Sakura was part of Sasuke's team, she latched onto the opportunity to be a mother again.

Itachi spared his mother a small smile, "From what I could ascertain, she is well. However, I believe Sasuke could better inform you, Okaa-san." When Itachi gestured to his brother, Sasuke glared at him. Itachi was well aware that Sasuke was too kind to deprive their mother of this one indulgence.

Clearing his throat, Sasuke fumbled with the napkin in his lap before talking. He turned to Mikoto. "Sakura is quite well. I recently received a letter from Sakura informing me that she would be on extended leave for a mission." Sasuke paused for a moment to observe Mikoto's expression, gauging whether the information he gave was enough. Mikoto's face was bright; she had taken in each detail with fervor, and it was clear that she wanted to hear more.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Itachi used his mother's curiosity to inquire about what Sakura had said earlier. "Did Haruno-san mention what this mission happened to be?" Itachi said, sounding deceivingly casual about his question. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"No, she did not." Sasuke raised his chopsticks to take another bit of salted fish, signifying his refusal to talk any more on the matter. _You're still a horrible liar_, Itachi internally smirked. He wasn't deterred; this just meant Itachi would have to sift through his little brother's belongings later.

"How is her relationship with the Hokage?" Fugaku said. Sasuke frowned at his father's inquiry. Itachi had seen Sasuke destroy training grounds to vent after times when their father spoke like this. Although Itachi wasn't offended by the slant to Sakura like Sasuke was, Itachi was angered as well, but he wasn't one to scream it to the world as Sasuke often did. For different reasons, it bothered them both that Fugaku only made the effort to know someone's name if they could further the clan's political or physical power.

Noticing that Sasuke's jaw was tensed, Itachi spoke for him. "Haruno-san is highly regarded by Tsunade-sama; many consider her the Hokage's sole confidante," Itachi said, void of emotion. Sasuke excused himself from the table, his feet pounding against the matted floors as he escaped the confines of the dining room. What Itachi said wasn't a defense for his brother's teammate – not at all. He merely spoke the truth. It was public knowledge that if you desired to have any connection to Tsunade, political or not, it was essential to befriend Haruno Sakura.

This was why Itachi was so curious about what mission the medic had been sent on. Itachi had checked the mission boards this morning and there had been a very clear notification posted on the mission board stating that all missions were postponed until further notice. He found it interesting that the Hokage's right hand was apparently excluded from this notice. Even more so, she was sent on a solo mission during politically tense times.

Itachi pondered the peculiarities of the pink's sudden assignment while he walked to Sasuke's room. Stopping outside the door, Itachi searched for his brother's chakra signature. He smirked, _of course._ Sasuke was out on Uchiha training grounds, excessively destroying the forest. Satisfied that Sasuke wasn't going to return anytime soon, Itachi slide the door open and stepped inside his brother's room.

It had taken Itachi all of five seconds to find Sakura's letter, which he had found in Sasuke's sock drawer. He really needed better hiding spots; Sasuke had been hiding things in that drawer since he was in the academy and hid his first kunai there that Itachi had given him as a birthday present.

Itachi took the letter and slipped it in his pocket. He walked back to his room where he took out the letter and smoothed out the wrinkles on his desk.

_Sasuke-kun,_

_I know this a bit short notice, but by the time you get this, I will have left Konoha on a mission. I'm sorry for asking you about that information at Ichiraku last night – I was a bit desperate for answers. I found out about the current situation, and Tsunade has asked me to help. I know I can't include details regarding my mission here, but I wanted to let you know that I am safe for now. I have asked Tsunade to keep you and the rest of Team 7 informed of my condition so you all don't worry, or at least so Naruto doesn't bother Tsunade too much. I can't say when I will be back, but I will miss you while I'm gone._

_Until then,_

_Sakura_

By "current situation", Itachi assumed she meant the conflict Konoha was in with Kiri, Kumo, and Iwa. He inferred that since Tsunade had asked for her help, and since there was no official record the mission she was supposedly on, this was a personal favor to the Hokage. But, then he stopped. Something was off about the letter. Itachi stared at the letter for a moment. It wasn't the letter that had made him stop – no, that wasn't what confused him.

As his sharingan unconsciously strengthened its focus, the pinwheels in his eyes scoped at the shadows of chakra that were left on the letter. At first, Itachi assumed that it was Sakura that had left a lip-shaped chakra stain on the letter. But, his sharingan told him that the lip's owners were, in fact, Sasuke's. Itachi suddenly felt the need to look away from the letter.

Actually, the more Itachi's eyes saw how drenched the letter was in Sasuke's chakra, the more he found himself removing all physical contact with it. Since when was Sasuke so emotionally forward to feel inclined to _kiss_ a letter . . . Itachi grimaced.

As interesting – and strangely disturbing – as Sasuke's love life was, impending war trumped romantic interests. Itachi put the letter back into Sasuke's sock drawer, and returned to his room to rest. He had a lot of information gathering in store for tomorrow.

* * *

><p>Chakra pulsed through her legs as Sakura jumped from tree to tree, trying to cut the three-day trip to Kumo down to two. The faster she got there, the better; Sakura had a feeling that this sort of situation that worsened as time went on.<p>

After she left Konoha around eleven at night, Sakura had been practically sprinting. To get to Kumo, you had to travel through Konoha for a day, pass through Yugakure and Shimogakure for another day, and then travel inland for a final, third day until you reached Kumo. As of right now, Sakura was impressed by her progress; she was the morning of her second day, and she roughly halfway through Shimogakure.

As Sakura had progressed farther north, she added layers on top of what she had on now; she had expected the north to be colder in September, but she was surprised by just how much lower the temperatures were. As she crossed the Shimogakure border, she couldn't regulate her body temperature with just chakra anymore. She wrapped a cloak around her shoulders and sighed as she was wrapped in warmth and shielded from the unforgiving wind.

It was the early hours of the morning, and this was Sakura's favorite time to travel. Unlike the night, the silence of the forest was calming, not ominous. Even though she was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, Sakura was comforted by the fact that this was the time of day when almost every creature was asleep. Those that were nocturnal were had just fallen asleep, and those who walked in the day hadn't awoken just yet.

It was quiet. _So different from home_, Sakura thought, smiling at how her mood couldn't even be beat by the throbbing in her legs. She loved the bustle of her friends, the hospital, and life as a kunoichi, but even the most extroverted people need some quiet. She pushed her leg down as it connected with a tree limb.

The peace of the forests helped Sakura get through the long hours of travel. She tried to focus more on the beauty of the forest – something she didn't see very often from her hours at the hospital – and tried not to think about how she wished she was traveling with the rest of Team 7. She tried not the think about how she missed Naruto's contagious optimism, or how she missed berating Kakashi for his perverted books, or how she missed Sasuke's quiet confidence, or how she missed Sai's social awkwardness. . . She sighed. Sakura wasn't very good at the whole not-thinking-about-home thing . . .

With her reverie slipping, Sakura could finally feel the fibers in her muscles stiffen and cramp. She pushed forward, promising her legs she would take a break at the next clearing.

Sakura's patience was worth it because after about twenty minutes of pushing her limbs past their limits, she happened across a clearing conveniently by a stream. She felt better knowing that she had managed to find a clean water source, something especially rare in cold climates.

She landed in the center of the clearing, staying in a crouch while she stretched her chakra out. Except for a few bugs and forest critters, Sakura was entirely alone. She set her packs down by a rock and proceeded to ease her stiff muscles. She stretched her back, feeling each vertebrae pop as they spread out. She devoted the next ten minutes to stretching her legs, and oh boy, did she need it. When she bent forward to simply touch her toes, her legs yelled at her. Sakura worked through the protests of her legs and managed to relieve most of the tension.

She sat on the rock, drawing medical chakra to her hands, massaging her legs with the chakra-covered hands, increasing blood flow to reduce lactic acid build up and prevent soreness later on. The taut muscle fibers relaxed and her capillaries opened with her chakra's coercion. Her legs felt hot as blood rushed through her legs.

Pulling her bag to her, Sakura began to rummage through its contents, looking for the soldier pills she stocked up on before leaving. Finding the small container, she popped one of the grey pills in her mouth, cringing at the bitter taste of the pill as she swallowed it. But, within moments, her chakra climbed to its normal level, and she was ready to start up again.

Before she left the clearing, Sakura remembered that she had wanted to take advantage of the stream about twenty meters away to refill her water supply. She walked through the forest brush, pushing branches out of her face so she wouldn't get swatted in the face.

"Kami, I'm sick of all this traveling," a man sighed, followed by a grunt from another person. Sakura froze. _Voices?_ Sakura's mind frantically ran through her earlier check at the clearing. She had sensed some insects and the occasional rabbit, but she hadn't sensed humans anywhere. Even now, she couldn't feel any sort of chakra signature. _How did I miss them in my scan? _Sakura thought, simultaneously hoping they were civilians, and they missed her scan because of their low chakra levels.

Sakura carefully placed each step on the forest floor, making sure not to step on any twigs as she closed in on the stream to see the voices' owners. She crouched and lowered her body as close to the ground as possible so the brush could cover her. The stream was within a few meters, and Sakura saw two men crouching on the river's edge, refilling their water bottles. From the weapon pouches strapped to their legs and the grey flak jackets, Sakura nixed her hopes of encountering simple civilians or even merchants.

Without revealing her own chakra signature, Sakura leaked a miniscule amount in order to perform a simple concealment jutsu. With the few drops of chakra and a hand sign, Sakura's image faded, and she blended into the greens and browns of the forest. She crept closer so she could hear them better.

"Shouldn't we have run into her by now?" the man on the right said, turning to his partner. Sakura thought for a moment that they meant her, but they couldn't have. She was on an unofficial mission, therefore there wasn't any documentation of her location, and Tsunade was the only one who verbally knew where she was. Even in her letters to Team 7, she never once mentioned her destination. There was no way these two men could know where she was headed and follow her.

The left man sighed. "Yeah, we definitely should have. The damn bitch must be running faster than we calculated." Just as the man finished talking, a short series of whistles came from the forest, and the two men immediately stood up, running to the direction of the whistles.

Sakura couldn't pinpoint the origin of the whistle, so she followed the two shinobi. But, when they ran in the direction she came from, she suddenly didn't feel it was such a crazy idea that they were talking about her.

Switching to higher grounds to get a better view, she put her back against a tree trunk and leaned out a few inches to get a visual. She was concealed with a jutsu, but the added caution couldn't hurt.

Three men were standing in the clearing she had landed in earlier. One of the men was holding her pack, which he then tipped over, spilling the contents on the grass. The same man turned around, spinning to look around the clearing. "You won't last very long out here without supplies, will you, little girl?" he laughed, "Come on out! We know you're there!" Sakura didn't respond, but the man looked at his teammates and flickered his eyes in her direction. _Shit!_

She ran.

Sakura mind rushed. Forcing her legs to move faster, she powered her legs with tons of chakra. They already detected her, so there was no point in hiding her chakra or keeping up her camouflage jutsu at this point. The bag was a lost cause, so Sakura left it in the clearing as she ran north, still attempting to cover some ground to Kumogakure while escaping the three shinobi.

Sakura may be incredibly strong and intelligent, but as far as speed went, she was only slightly above average for a jonin. She wasn't proud of it, especially considering how many strengths she had compared to this one weakness, but it was times like these that she wished she trained more with Lee; his daily routine of one thousand laps around Konoha was nothing to mess with.

Still confused about why she couldn't sense their chakra still, she looked behind her for visual confirmation. Sure enough, the three shinobi were only twenty meters behind her and quickly closing that gap. Their faces were definitely not friendly, and they had weapons in each hand, no doubt to be aimed at her.

Sakura knew it was only a matter of time before they closed the gap and starting attacking her. She gave up on powering her legs via chakra – it was wasting energy she would need if she had to fight – and redirected it towards her feet and hands. On the next branch, she planted her feet down, coming to an abrupt halt.

The three men ran past, but realized their mistake too late; Sakura was now running behind them. She drew three shuriken in her right hand and aimed them at each shinobi. Two of them were deflected, but the third one was too fast and lodged itself in the neck of one man. The shuriken had slide in between the vertebrae in the neck and had severed the spinal cord. She threw a kunai at the same spot, jamming the shuriken all the way through the man's neck, partially severing it from his body. One down.

The other two that had deflected her shuriken had split, seeking cover. She jumped to higher branches, trying to spot them without sensing their chakra. She couldn't find one of the remaining shinobi via chakra or sight, but the other had gotten lazy with their hiding spot.

From her higher branch, she could see one of them half hidden behind a trunk, fumbling with a bottle. _Soldier pills_, Sakura identified as she saw the man slip a grey ball past his lips. She didn't want to eliminate the lazy one – he'd be good for questioning once she got rid of his teammate.

She released a measured amount of medical chakra to her hands and performed a series of hand seals. With the last seal, she slammed her hands down onto the branch she was crouched on. Channeling her chakra through the branches, she directed the stream through the trunk, into the ground, and up the roots of the tree the shinobi was on. If her sight was correct, the man was leaning on the trunk – an observation that was necessary for this jutsu to work. The chakra seeped from the trunk of his tree into the base of his neck. Sakura smiled.

She wrapped the stream of chakra around his spinal cord. The stream traveled up the spinal cord, through is brain stem, and stopped at his motor cortex. There, the chakra constricted the site, depriving it of oxygen and therefore paralyzing the man. From her branch, she could see the man convulsing, but he eventually stopped moving. She released her chakra. He was alive – barely – but he wouldn't be a problem for questioning later.

Now that the man was immobilized, Sakura focused her attention on locating the third and last shinobi. Before Sakura could stand from her crouch, the man attacked her, the swish of leaves the only warning of his arrival.

He came at her with a ninjato sword which Sakura blocked with a kunai. She held the kunai with her right arm while her left one reached for another one from her pouch. The shinobi backed up only to slash the ninjato at her again, but this time her kunai couldn't handle the weight of the blow, and they were flung from her hands. Resorting to taijutsu, she swung her chakra-laden fist at the man, aiming for vital areas. In an attempt to dodge one of her hits, hit grip loosened on the ninjato, and Sakura quickly swatted the sword away, satisfied when she heard it hit the ground. But, the loss of his weapon didn't deter his attacks. Assuming a similar taijutsu stance, he began attacking again.

She had to give the shinobi some credit; he was very skilled in taijutsu. Every time she whipped her hand towards the man, her attack was easily parried. But, she defended his attacks just as well. Attack after attack, the two remained in a stalemate. Their hands were locked together as they pushed against each other, trying to force the other back. Sakura planted her feet in the ground and forced as much chakra as she could to her arms. She cried out as her muscle fibers were overloaded with chakra, the muscle fibers shocked from the sudden flood of power.

She bit her lip and ignored the pain, not letting the chakra go to waste after all this work. She unplanted her right foot to try and get a better angle, but the man quickly took advantage of her decreased leverage and pushed her down a few inches. Trying to get some sort of momentum, she swung her leg back as far as she could in this hold and kicked the ground. A large fissure opened between them, and the two of them were thrown apart from the burst. Accustomed to this, Sakura was the first to recover her footing and attack again. Luckily for her, sudden fissures weren't something the shinobi was used to, and he held his head with one hand and steadied himself against a tree with the other. She ran towards the man, and before he could respond, she pulled both arms behind his back, bending them upward to strain the joints. Finally getting a chance to reach into her weapon pouch, she pressed a kunai to his neck.

The man stilled as his eyes tentatively looked at the blade from the corner of his eye. A few drops of blood ran down his neck.

Realizing she couldn't let go of the man, she gave up on question the paralyzed one she left behind; this one would do just as well. The man grunted and smirked, but before he could say anything, Sakura pressed the blade harder into his neck. "One of your teammates is dead, but the other is just paralyzed. If you answer my questions and cease all attacks against me, I will let you go and heal your remaining teammate. Do we have a deal?" She narrowed her eyes at the man. "What's in it for me?" The man said.

"I believe your life is an adequate incentive, don't you think?" Sakura returned. The shinobi's gaze met hers and stared at her for a long moment. Sakura didn't blink as the man assessed her words.

The man's posture relaxed. "Get the damn kunai off my neck," he grunted. Sakura's eyebrow quirked up. "I can't talk to you with that damn this cutting me."

"I have your word that you will comply? We have a deal?" Sakura asked, lessening the pressure of the blade, but not removing it yet.

"Yeah, we have a deal," the man nodded. Before releasing her kunai, Sakura reached down and removed his weapons pouch and backpack. She back up from the man, still holding her kunai up in a defensive stance.

"If you have any weapons on you, now would be the time to remove them. I will kill you and your partner if I see a weapon on your person," Sakura ordered. From personal experience, she knew that a large part of personal weapons for a shinobi are hidden within their clothing, and she wasn't stupid enough to talk with the man with things still hanging around in his pockets. The man smirked and slowly began removing kunai, shuriken, scrolls, exploding tags, senbon, and other weapons within the folds of his clothing.

The man held his hands out and turned in a circle slowly. "Happy?" he asked, his voice thick with sarcasm. Sakura gave the man one last look and nodded. The man sat down at the base of the tree, and Sakura lowered herself to a kneeling position.

"Who are you – where are you from?" Sakura asked.

"I don't really see why my name is important, but its Yaku, and I'm from Kumogakure," he said, sighing.

"Alright, Yaku, tell me why are you suddenly so compliant to answer questions when minutes ago you and your team were trying to kill me," Sakura said, but her brow furrowed as the man started to laugh, "I don't see what's so funny."

Yaku shook his head. "We had no such orders to kill you – Konoha shinobi, yes, but there are a few that have been listed as exceptions. You, my dear, are one of the lucky exceptions." He explained. _I'm an exception?_ Sakura thought. She had no idea why the Raikage would make her an exception to his kill-on-sight order.

"Was that Killer Bee's doing?" She asked, then realized she hadn't meant to ask that.

Yaku laughed. "Look, I'm just a tracker – I only know so much. They sent me out because last night we got information about a certain pink-haired medic making her way through the northern countries. A few towns reported seeing a pink-haired girl, so we pin-pointed your location and followed you from there. We had no intent on engaging you until found us." He paused for a moment to look at her. "Our mission was to get you to Kumo – _alive_. That's really all I know, so can you please release my one living teammate?" He asked her.

It was then that Sakura how exhausted he was. She considered his words. It seemed like he was telling the truth; there were no changes in his vitals and his body language showed absolutely no signs of deceit. But, it mystified her that the Raikage was keeping his shinobi so poorly informed and sent them on missions blindly looking for people. But, her gut told her that Yaku was telling the truth about the Raikage wanting her alive.

"What would happen if I didn't go to Kumogakure?" She asked.

Yaku gave her an odd expression "For starters, you'd be an idiot. Even if I didn't bring you to Kumogakure, the Raikage has hundred of teams looking for you; one of them is bound to bring you there." _Damn_. Sakura had no idea there was an all out hunt for her.

"Wait, how did you know where I was going? Only the Hokage knows that," she wondered out loud.

The man frowned. "We had no idea where you were going, just that you left Konoha." Sakura didn't know how they knew, but she doubted this guy had the answers; all he knew was his mission, and nothing more.

Knowing that this team probably wouldn't be the first she would encounter on the rest of her trip to Kumogakure, she realized that her best bet was to use Yaku and his teammate to get into the country. They would have fulfilled their mission, and she would be alive and in Kumogakure if his words held true.

"Here's what's going to happen: We are going to pretend that you captured me. Your dead teammate was an unfortunate loss in apprehending me, however, you and your remaining teammate survived with minimal damage. You get to fulfill your mission, and I get my entry into Kumogakure without further harm. Deal?" Sakura proposed.

Yaku smirked. "Deal."

**Author's Note:** Hope you enjoyed it! Hopefully, I will be getting more time to work on this as my college prep list get closer to completion. _I would really appreciate any reviews_! Thanks for reading!


	3. Letters

**Author's Note: **Thanks to everyone who reviewed, subscribed, or added this to their favorites! I really appreciate the support! This chapter in particular took me forever. Between family issues, personal problems, work, and going to college for the first time (moved in last week!), this chapter kept getting interrupted. Fortunately, college has given me a lot more free time to devote myself to writing since I can budget my own time. Enjoy chapter three!

**Disclaimer: **Naruto own not do I.

* * *

><p>~ Chapter 3: Letters ~<p>

Before Itachi left his house in the morning, his plan had been fairly standard with his normal regime of training. His plan changed, however, when he saw Sasuke.

As Itachi headed for the kitchen to grab a peach, Sasuke passed him. His gait was shallow and uneven, obviously trying to hide an injury in his foot. "Sasuke," Itachi said, causing Sasuke to stop. Sasuke's footing faltered for a moment, but he gained stability before turning his head to his brother.

"Hn," Sasuke returned.

"Is that really any way to greet your brother, Sasuke?" Itachi asked, adding a _tsk_ to the end. Sasuke turned his whole body to face Itachi, annoyance clear on his features. "What happened to your foot?" Itachi said, pointedly looking at Sasuke's right foot. Sasuke followed Itachi's line of sight, then stepped back so his right foot was obstructed by his left foot.

"Training accident," Sasuke said. Itachi mentally grinned. _You're such a horrible liar, Sasuke._ Itachi nodded and turned to head into the kitchen. After a moment, Sasuke continued walking as well. Sasuke headed for the front door, and Itachi followed his chakra signature while it moved through the compound to the clan's gates. Itachi grabbed a peach from the bowl of fruit in the kitchen, and took it with him as he followed Sasuke's chakra signature.

Taking a different route than Sasuke, Itachi monitored Sasuke's movement from afar, knowing that Sasuke was too dense to search for his signature especially when he couldn't see its owner. Itachi's Sharingan followed the chakra of Sasuke, tracking every left and right, every pause and sprint. The blue energy weaved through Konoha's commercial district, a bit sporadically at first, but eventually the pace was determined.

Itachi recognized the path Sasuke was taking. He had returned from many missions with injuries too minor for the hospital and had taken this route. It went to the Haruno girl's apartment.

Itachi quickened his pace and diverted into the street running parallel to the one Sasuke was one. He jumped to the rooftop, crouching to hide behind the apex of the roof. Sasuke's chakra signature stopped in front of the Haruno's building, scaled the stairs, and opened the door to her apartment. Then, the signature stopped moving. Itachi raised from his crouch enough for his eyes to see over the roof's peak. For the second time within twelve hours, Itachi was discovering more than he needed to about Sasuke.

Within Sakura's apartment, Sasuke was sprawled on the floor in the middle of the apartment with his eyes closed. Just _lying_ _there_. Itachi shook his head slightly, and headed off; he'd had enough of Sasuke's recent weird antics. He took off for the Hokage's tower.

When he arrived at the Hokage tower, he didn't bother going through that annoying little secretary Tsunade hired. He went through the ANBU passage into her office instead. He appeared in front of her desk while the woman was – unsurprisingly – drinking sake. As the blonde Hokage looked up, a small _damn it_ escaped, and she immediately went to refill her cup. "They hall it happy hour for a reason, Uchicha; it's supposed to be drinking with no worries, not drinking because I have to deal with you," she growled, throwing back all the sake she just poured.

"My apologies, Tsunade-sama, but it is eight in the morning," Itachi said. His brow quirked upward when Tsunade answered him with another shot of sake.

"I know you didn't come all the way down here to watch me drink, so what is it?" Tsunade said, leaning back in her chair. Itachi stepped closer to the Hokage's desk.

"I was hoping you could indulge a curiosity of mine, Tsunade-sama," Itachi said, his voice deceivingly nonchalant. He paused for a moment, waiting for an answer, but Tsunade's silence was enough. "What mission is Haruno Sakura on?"

Tsunade's lips pursed as she considered Itachi's words. "Since when do medic activities interest you?" Tsunade finally said.

"Tsunade-sama, you and I both know covering up Haruno's absence as a 'remote medical inquiry' is foolish," Itachi said, pulling out a mission scroll from his pocket that listed Sakura as having left to treat a handicapped woman in a rural region of Konoha. "It bypasses your temporary ordinance banning missions by making it within the country borders and clears any suspicion of ill-intent by making it a medical mission, for which Sakura is beyond trusted for. A smart lie, but only for those lazy enough not to question it." Itachi kept his eyes focused on the Hokage as he spoke, monitoring her attempt to withhold her anger as she read the scroll she had slipped in the mission archives.

"You do know the only reason I'm not stripping you of your rank for insubordination is because you're a damn good shinobi," Tsunade said, sighing, "But, I need your absolute confidentiality if I am to tell you anything." When Itachi nodded, Tsunade got up from her seat and went to one of the many cabinets beside her desk. She opened one of the locked cabinets by using her chakra signature, and slide out the drawer to reveal a surprisingly empty cabinet containing only a dozen or so files. Those files, however, were a few inches thick and had various papers escaping from all sides. Tsunade flipped through the few files and hauled one over to her desk. The file landed on the wooden tabletop with a resounding _thump_.

Itachi opened the file and was immediately greeted with a photo of Haruno Sakura's photo and shinobi profile; this was Sakura's shinobi record.

"I've been personally looking after her file for some time now; it seems that people will do just about anything to get a scrap of information on her. Given what you already know, I'm sure your _brilliant_ mind can fill in whatever blanks you've made out of where Sakura's been sent. I'll leave you to look through the file, but you may not leave the room with it; I put a seal on it to prevent it from leaving my office." Tsunade said as she walked to leave the room. Before she closed the door behind her, Itachi turned to her.

"I appreciate the trust you have given me with this, but I can't help but ask why," Itachi said, still holding Haruno Sakura's file. Tsunade sighed and her shoulders sank.

"Itachi, I may be the Hokage, but there's only so much I can do," she said, her face tired, "I need help." The room was silent after the door _clicked_ behind her.

* * *

><p>As Sakura and Yaku walked through the remaining land of Shimogakure and Kumogakure, Yaku's words held true; they encountered many shinobi squads looking for her, but they all gave up their search when they saw Yaku had already apprehended her.<p>

When they finally neared the giant stonewall surrounding the capital Kumo, a group of guards dressed similarly to Yaku walked towards them.

"Identify yourselves!" One guard shouted at the three of them. Yaku gave them a look of disbelief.

"Come on, I know you recognize me, Itou. If Takanaki wasn't a pile of mush, I'm sure you'd recognize him too," He said, readjusting his partner's arm around his shoulder. Although he wasn't fatally injured, the effects of Sakura's technique would need a long time to fade away since the technique targeted his central nervous system.

The guard hesitated for a moment, but soon walked a few steps closer and spoke to Yaku. "Of course I know it's you, but who's the pink chick?" he said in a hushed voice.

On cue, Yaku used his free arm to grab Sakura's wrist and cleared his throat. "I have apprehended Haruno Sakura, and I'm to immediately bring her to Raikage-sama," Yaku announced. The group of guards paused for a moment, but as they finally recognized Sakura's name, they scrambled to open the capital's gate. A guard came by and grabbed Takanaki while the others grabbed ropes and pulled open the giant wooden doors of Kumo. Now that his teammate was on the way to a medic, Yaku guided Sakura into Kumo and to the Raikage tower.

While they walked to the Raikage tower, Sakura was surprised at how many people stared at her while she walked by – and not because of her hair. Civilians and shinobi alike glared and sneered as she passed. Walking beside her and still holding her wrists, Yaku noticed her confusion. "I suppose you could say Kumogakure has pretty widespread anti-Konoha sentiments," Yaku said. Still confused, Sakura opted for silence.

In her silence, Sakura looked around the town, realizing she'd never been in Kumogakure. All the buildings were made of stone with thatched roofs. Almost every home had wisps of smoke leaving their chimneys, and all the doors and windows were tightly shut. Sakura didn't envy their living style, but she did envy the warm clothing that everyone seemed to have. _I'll definitely need to grab some of those sometime soon, _Sakura thought, realizing she had no idea how long she would be here, and her present clothing weren't exactly warm and fuzzy.

The cobblestone road eventually led them to another stone building, but this one was far larger than the ones in town. She looked at Yaku, and he nodded to go forward. They entered the building and were immediately met by more Kumo shinobi. "Raikage-sama will see you," the front shinobi said to them. The group led them up a staircase not so different than the one in the Hokage tower. They paused at the Raikage's office door, waiting for the booming "_Enter!_" to proceed.

Sakura had met many of the Kages during the many diplomatic meetings she shadowed Tsunade, however, the Raikage was someone who had never made it to Konoha. She was surprised to see that he looked almost exactly like his brother, Killer Bee, with only some small differences. The Raikage's blonde hair was slicked back, there were large golden shackles around his forearm, and he wore a large engraved golden belt over standard shinobi pants. His lack of warm clothing made Sakura internally cringe and wonder how the hell he managed to stay warm all the time.

The Raikage took one look at her and turned to the Kumo shinobi. "Leave us." His voice left no room for argument. The Kumo shinobi and Yaku left the office. The Raikage waited for everyone to leave before speaking. "What business does a Konoha shinobi have with Kumogakure?" He said, his eyes never leaving Sakura's.

Not deterred by his glare, Sakura walked forward to sit before him. She easily broke free of the rope that had been tired around her wrists. Rubbing her wrists to ease the soreness, she matched the Raikage's glare. "With all due respect, sir, I believe my presence should be fairly explanatory," She said, leaning back in her chair. When his expression never changed, she sighed. "You have sent orders to kill our shinobi, you have refused to meet with any of our ambassadors, you have created an unauthorized alliance with Kirigakure and Iwagakure – do I need to continue?" She let her words hang in the air, waiting for the Raikage to respond.

The man leaned back in his own chair and his eyes narrowed. "I have no idea what–" He started, but Sakura immediately interrupted him.

"Don't play stupid, Raikage-san. There isn't some bounty on your head or some plan to assassinate you. In fact, I'm here completely off the record; no one knows I'm here but Tsunade-sama. As her apprentice, I'm here to speak on her behalf and to try and reach an agreement – or at the very least, get an explanation of your actions. I promise my visit will be short and rather uneventful if you comply to answer a few questions of the Hokage," Sakura said. The Raikage's eyes relaxed and he let out a long breath.

"Off the record, huh?" He wondered aloud. He turned his back to her. "No one knows you're here?"

She nodded. "No one except the Hokage."

He turned back to her. "Then I suppose no one will know you've gone missing then, hm?" Just as he finished speaking, the group of Kumo shinobi instantly appeared in the room. Before she could get her hands together to form seals, they restrained her and placed shackles with chakra seals on her wrists, ankles, and neck. The shackles on her wrists were tied together, effectively handcuffing her hands. A chakra-charged rope looped through the shackle on her neck, and a Kumo shinobi pulled it, making her lurch forward to the ground.

"Stupid child, what I want can't be appeased by meaningless treaties and superficial politics," a maniacal grin stretched across his face as he snickered, "Do you know what I want, little girl?" He walked over and lowered himself inches away from her face.

"I want Uzumaki Naruto's head on a stake."

* * *

><p>In Tsunade's office, Itachi continued to read through the Haruno girl's file. <em>Medical inquiry, medical inquiry, medical inquiry<em> . . . It seemed like all Sakura ever did was stay at the hospital or travel across Konoha to heal wounds. There was, however, a substantial subfolder dedicated to a certain trip she had taken with the Kyuubi container to visit the Hachibi on an unmarked island in the sea beside Konoha and Kumo. Itachi set aside the other content of the folder and spread out the documents pertaining to the visit with the Hachibi.

One paper was the official mission description, which was more of a dispatch authorization than an actual mission scroll; it merely said that Haruno Sakura was to accompany Uzumaki Naruto while he trained with the Hachibi to better his bijuu control. The rest of the folder was stuffed with letters. Itachi skimmed the letters, but he immediately stopped when he came upon the clipped papers that were a collection of intercepted letters between Killer Bee and Sakura. _They were friends? _Itachi thought, doubting such a friendship could ever occur.

He read through them, realizing that most of them were either about complete nonsense or about the Uzumaki kid, but he did find one letter about neither of those.

_Yo, Sakura-san!_

_Sorry for making you wait since my last letter! My brother has me following him around constantly like some dog, like I'm gonna be gone the minute he turns his back! I don't have a lot of time to write this until my brother finds me, so I'll just get to the point. I was hoping you could visit – Kumo has been so boring since you and Naruto left! I need excitement, okay? Come soon!_

_See ya!_

_Killer Bee_

Itachi turned the page to find a small note attached from the Raikage.

_Contrary to my previous letter, visits from you are neither needed nor permitted._

_A change of heart?_ Itachi thought, thinking back to a letter in the file the Raikage had sent to Tsunade allowing Sakura to visit whenever she liked. He pulled out the other letter and looked at the dates. The letter from Killer Bee had been short of a year ago, the Raikage's positive letter shortly followed a few months later, and the Raikage's negative response was just a few weeks ago.

Itachi considered the letters, thinking about their timing with recent events. It was no coincidence that the Raikage's recent rejection to Sakura's visits was so close to the attacks on Konoha shinobi. The real question, however, was what happened in the short time between the Raikage's letters that made him change his mind. A vendetta against Sakura was too small to mandate attacks on every shinobi of one country, and the chances of someone like a Kage being so naïve to blame a whole country for one person's actions were slight at best.

Itachi memorized the rest of the letters and content in Sakura's file, and then went to find Tsunade. Rather predictably, He found her at a bar on the edge of town.

He quickly formed seals to save the travel time and appeared in a cloud of ash in front of the bar. Looking around, he was glad that Tsunade had chosen to get drunk at a fairly deserted bar; only one other customer was present, but he quickly left after seeing Itachi. Itachi slid into the chair next to Tsunade.

"They were friends?" He asked, figuring a good starting point would be the relationship between Killer Bee and Sakura.

She let out a breathy laugh. "In their own way. During the mission, Killer Bee developed a fairly obvious crush for Sakura. However, his romantic feelings were closer to Lee's in that it was more out of deep admiration for her knowledge and strength. Sakura was curious about Killer Bee for mostly academic purposes; the fact that he is one of the only remaining jinchuriki made him fascinating, especially with her drive to understand Naruto more. But, I suppose he did grow on her." She lifted her sake glass to her lips, but placed the dish own before she took a sip. Her long blonde hair shielded her face as she hung her head over her drink. "I have looked over her file repeatedly for days – I was practically sleeping with it before I sent her. Those letters are the most direct and recent correspondence we've had with the Raikage. I was convinced they held some kind of answer for his actions."

Itachi thought about what she had said. He had looked at every letter and strung them together, but none of it held any answers – at least with the information they had.

"How did you intercept these letters?" he asked, curious about who their inside connection was.

Tsunade lifted her head and gave him a curious expression. "It was Sasuke. Why?" Sasuke? Since when was Sasuke the insider they had in Kumo?

Tsunade saw Itachi looking ahead and wondered what about her words confused him since it was a pretty straightforward answer. "Actually, he volunteered for the job. He never really gave a reason why, but it seemed important to him. I just kind of assumed it was some weird protection thing for Sakura – he has a thing for her, right?" she wondered aloud, hoping something there would be useful to the prodigy.

Itachi looked at her. Sasuke liked Sakura? Well, it would explain that infernal chakra-soaked letter he kept in his drawer. But why would he volunteer to be their double agent for Kumogakure just for some girl?

"What's this all about, anyway? I asked for help, Itachi, not more mysteries," She said, finally getting sick of his silence. Internally, Itachi rolled his eyes.

"If Sasuke was your insider, assuming his connection in the Raikage's inner circle still stand, he should still be able to tap into those resources," he explained, waiting for the Hokage to finally see logic in her stupor. Thankfully, understanding widened her eyes. "Quite frankly, Tsunade-sama, I'm surprised that wasn't your first course of action," Itachi mused.

Tsunade agreed with Itachi but then thought back on the week of the first attacks. Her expression fell. "That would have been impossible. Sasuke accompanied Naruto on his mission to see the Kazekage when the first attacks occurred. Suna almost immediately closed off their borders, not letting anyone enter nor leave Suna," she said, realizing why she hadn't thought of it earlier. Itachi scoffed, wishing she had mentioned such information earlier.

"Is there anything else you have conveniently forgotten to tell me?" Itachi said. Really, how did she expect for him to help her if he didn't have all the information necessary to do just that? Tsunade rolled her eyes, but still answered by shaking her head. She was about to speak when Shizune appeared next to her. Before Tsunade was able to acknowledge her presence, Shizune spoke.

"Tsunade-sama, we have received a message from Sakura-san!" Shizune said, the words coming out in a rush. Tsunade's surprised face sobered immediately as she jumped off the bar stool and headed to her office, Itachi following behind her.

The three sprinted to the communication tower, silence prevailing as they all pondered what information Sakura had sent. Tsunade threw the door open to the communication tower and had to wait little more than a second before someone placed Sakura's letter in her hand. She shooed everyone away, leaving the three of them alone in the room. Shizune quickly sealed off the room, nodding to Tsunade when the room was secured.

Inserting her chakra into the scroll, the seal on the parchment disappeared, causing the paper to unfurl itself.

_Tsunade-sama,_

_I have successfully met with the Raikage. We are working on reaching a mutual agreement between our nations. To further our work, the Raikage has asked for Naruto to be present while contracting the treaty to ensure the future Hokage abides by its terms. Naruto has been given one week to arrive in Kumo. When he arrives, the gate's gaurds will escort him to the Raikage where we will sign the treaty and be released to return to Konohagakure. I await your response._

_Haruno Sakura_

The three of them looked at the letter, keeping quiet for a moment to consider the text. Tsunade was the first to speak.

"Well, obviously this is a fake," Tsunade said, her lips pursed in disappointment. Itachi nodded his head.

"What? How could this be fake?" Shizune asked, clearly not understanding their thoughts.

"Shizune, when has Sakura ever written like this before? Clearly, someone told her to write this," Tsunade said. Shizune's expression changed with a bit of understanding, but it was evident that she was still skeptical of their opinions.

"Although the letter's diction is rather unusual, it is also evident that Haruno-san wasn't even present during the letter's writing," Itachi said. At this, Tsunade turned to Itachi, joining Shizune in her confusion. Itachi sighed. _Why must I always explain things? _He thought. "If Haruno-san was present during its writing, there would still be a trace of her chakra in the paper fibers if she had just been present. However, Haruno-san's chakra is no where to be found."

"Which means we can safely assume Sakura isn't even aware of this letter's existence," Tsunade said, continuing Itachi's train of logic.

"So, they took the paper from Sakura and forged this letter?" Shizune said. Itachi and Tsunade nodded. Shizune's face hardened with understanding – as they all understood what this meant: the Raikage was trying to get to Naruto. Itachi could see how tired Tsunade's expression had become as the Hokage realized that her own apprentice had either been taken captive – or worse – been killed by the Raikage. Although he was worried about the emotional state of the Hokage, there was one piece of information left out.

"There is one more problem," Itachi slowly said. Tsunade's eyes refocused, but retained their exhaustion and worry. "I have read Haruno-san's writing before, and I believe you will agree that this is an exact replica." Shizune took the letter from Itachi, studying the penmanship. As Itachi had said, it was a perfect replica of Sakura's effortless handwriting. Looking over Shizune's shoulder, Tsunade's eyes drifted to examine the writing. She looked up at Itachi and met his gaze, and he knew she understood what this meant.

"Damn, they are good at copying," Shizune mused. Tsunade gravely shook her head at Shizune's comment. That wasn't what this meant. Seeing the Hokage's face, Shizune frowned. "What? What's wrong?" she asked.

Seeing that Tsunade wasn't going to answer, Itachi turned to Shizune. "Somehow, the Raikage has enlisted the help of a Sharingan user." The level of precision in the replication of Sakura's writing could only be achieved with the incredible copying abilities of the Sharingan. The only thing left to answer was how the Raikage had gotten a Sharingan in his arsenal. Being the son of the clan leader had its benefits, one of which being able to monitor the movements of ever Uchiha. If someone had been constantly contacting the Raikage, he would have known. Perhaps the user was akin to Hatake Kakashi – a non-Uchiha shinobi who had mastered the Sharingan.

Tsunade looked over at Itachi. "Have you found a way to help me yet?" She shook her head and looked to the ground, as though it was foolish to think she should have asked for help.

Now that a Sharingan user was in play, the strategy Itachi had been forming changed completely. When fighting against a Sharingan user – unless you happened to be Gai – it was beyond foolish to fight alone. They couldn't send a team to combat the Sharingan either; their presence would be easy to trance and could have dire consequences if discovered.

"Actually, Tsunade-sama, I believe I have," he said as his plan gained solidity in his mind. Tsunade's head whipped up.

"What could possibly help now?" she asked, her voice incredulous. "They have a Sharingan! It would be suicide to go alone unless you have . . ." her voice trailed off. Her eyes darted around, the pieces finally coming together. "But they want Naruto – they'll know you aren't him."

"Will they?" Itachi countered, "Naruto has never been to Kumogakure, so lower shinobi won't know the difference since they don't know his chakra signature. Even those that do realize I'm not Naruto should be easy prey for my doujutsu. It wouldn't be until I have reached the Raikage's inner circle – where the other Sharingan user supposedly is – that I would even need to worry about being discovered." The plan could work – no, it had to. They're only hope to infiltrate Kumogakure was to send a single Sharingan user. Volunteering for this position seemed rather obvious to Itachi, especially when considering the other less-than-prime Sharingan candidates within the Uchiha clan. Besides, the infernal ban on missions had him restless. In any other situation, Itachi would have been on several missions by now.

"How soon can you leave?" Tsunade asked, already signaling Shizune to get a mission scroll. Tsunade let out a breathy laugh. "I don't know why I bother asking – I bet you're itching to get outside Konoha. Be ready to leave tonight." Itachi wouldn't give her the satisfaction, but he wanted to sigh with relief at her words. She was right – he couldn't wait to leave.

Just as he lifted his hands to leave the communication tower, Tsunade made one last comment. "Before you leave, I want you see me; I want to make sure you're genjutsu is accurate." Making his hands seals, he tried not to feel bitter about her comment. He knew it wasn't his genjutsu abilities in question, but rather his ability to portray Uzumaki's infernal optimism. He could do happy. Although he would be acting against every fiber of his natural personality, to be a good shinobi was to be a good actor as well.

Arriving in front of his home inside the Uchiha compound, Itachi headed straight for his room. Having been on countless missions, packing was a mindless activity for Itachi. Every mission, he packed the same clothes, the same weapons, and the same supplies in the same order into the same bag.

His post-packing ritual, however, was completely different. His normal routine consisted of various stretching exercises followed by a few hours of meditation. Tonight, however, he would have to practice the Uzumaki's posture, gestures, and facial expressions. Luckily, the Uzumaki kid was frequently at the house, so all he had to do was recall upon memory. With practiced ease, Itachi used a transformation jutsu. He opened his eyes and took a moment to adjust his senses to his new appearance. He ran his fingers through his now short and blonde hair, rather displeased but the unkempt style. Itachi didn't think he'd ever get used to the absurd amount of orange Naruto wore, but he would have to accept that his is what that hyperactive idiot wore and what he would be wearing now.

Itachi took the next hour or so practicing various gestures the blonde commonly used. By the time Itachi was done preparing, he could have passed at one of Naruto's shadow clones.

Remembering Tsunade's request, Itachi headed for the Hokage Tower to get his appearance "approved". He wasn't even twenty feet from the tower when he heard the high shrill of Naruto's voice. Itachi cringed; he would have to impersonate that as well.

He entered the Hokage's office and saw that Tsunade had invited more than just the Uzumaki kid. Standing around the Hokage's desk was Naruto, Kakashi, Sai, and his brother. He turned to Tsunade. Upon seeing Itachi's new appearance, Kakashi's eye crinkled, and Sai raised a brow. Naruto, however, was a bit dramatic. "Oh Kami! He looks like me!" Naruto shouted, his hands fisted in his hair.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and grabbed the real Naruto by the collar, dragging him next to Itachi. "Itachi, you have to smile," she said, "If you keep up that blank look, everyone will know you're not Naruto; even his joy has a reputation." Much to Itachi's dismay, he had to admit she was right. Naruto had truly lived up to his self-imposed title of the World's Most Hyperactive Ninja.

Lifting his arms behind his head, he mimicked the blonde's standard pose. The corners of his mouth tilted up a bit, using muscles he normally never used around his mouth. Despite his mind cringing at the feeling, Itachi stretched the corners farther, exposing a bull blown smile. Everyone's faces paled at his expression. Naruto, on the other hand, was a bit more dramatic with his reaction. The jinchuriki ground his palms into his eyes, moaning in pain about his eyes burning.

Tsunade coughed a few times, and Itachi released his "smile". "Well, I suppose that's . . . _adequate_," the Hokage said.

"But why does Itachi-teme have to look like me?" Naruto asked, still disturbed by Itachi's appearance. Tsunade looked at Itachi and flickered her wrist, signaling Itachi to return to his original appearance. When he completed the transformation jutsu, the faces of Team 7 returned to normal. The Hokage sat down, preparing her explanation. Itachi understood why she needed to prepare her words. When dealing with Team 7, news had to be strategically given or else one or more of the members would, as Tsunade phrased it, "freak out".

The men of Team 7 looked expectantly at Tsunade. She raised her head, resting them on her folded hands. "We have reason to believe Sakura has been compromised on her mission," she said. Naruto stepped forward to speak, but Kakashi grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Tsunade have Kakashi a small appreciative look and continued explaining. "As you are all aware, Kumogalure has been – as of right now – inexplicably hostile towards us. Due to various failed ANBU missions and our increasingly fragile political status, I banned all mission, which I'm sure you are all aware of," she paused to sigh, remembering her words with Sakura, "Since the Raikage has denied all our attempts at diplomacy, I _thought_ that by sending Sakura, the Raikage would permit her an audience in honor of her friendship with Killer Bee. I unofficially sent her to Kumogakure a week ago." She looked to Itachi, who promptly stepped next to the Hokage.

"Earlier today we received a fake letter from Sakura addressed to Tsunade-sama. It demanded that Naruto go to Kumogakure in order to witness the signing of a hypothetical treaty," he explained, then turned to Naruto, "For obvious reasons, we cannot send you to Kumogakure, Naruto." The blonde's brow furrowed as he clenched his fists. Kakashi's expression was still, refusing to show emotion regarding the potential danger his student was in.

Sasuke looked to the Hokage and back to Itachi. "So you need to send someone disguised as Naruto, but why are you going, Itachi?" he asked. Sasuke could understand that Itachi was highly capably and could easily complete this task, but with the threat of Kumogakure declaring war against Konoha, surely the Hokage would want him to stay in Konoha.

Itachi looked at Sasuke. "They have a Sharingan." That was all that needed to be said for Sasuke to understand. Although Kakashi would be much better at impersonating Naruto, his control of the Sharingan was no where near Itachi's expert control, despite his years of training.

"Itachi will be sent to Kumogakure as Naruto. Until we have confirmation of its validity, Itachi will be Naruto's proxy in any diplomatic discussions," she said. Upon seeing Naruto's face, she quickly added a disclaimer. "Now, the _only _reason I am telling you this information is because Sakura is a part of your Team and I know you would be bothering me for information if I didn't. However, if I sense any sort of attempt at leaving Konoha without my personal permission, your ranks will be stripped – and I mean it!" The whole time, Tsunade stared at Naruto, blatantly pointing her statement at him.

Naruto crossed his arms, letting out a defiant _hmph._ Tsunade dismissed the remainder of Team 7 and turned to Itachi to give him a few last reminders. Itachi listened, but just barely. He'd heard all this before. Be safe _blahblah _be quick _blahblah _don't kill too many people _blahblahblah_. He only refocused his attention to hear the words "you're dismissed."

He transported himself home only to grab his packed bag and readjust his Naruto illusion. Leaving the Uchiha compound as Naruto, he ran towards Konoha's northern gate.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> For those of you who know all about Kumogakure, I apologize for the major guessing I did when describing it. As for those of you about to kill me because it's chapter three, and I have yet to include any ItaSaku goodies, I promise that they are coming! Nevertheless, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Any reviews are very much appreciated!


	4. The Guard

**Author's Note: **Hello everyone! This is a really, really, really overdue chapter, but I rewrote it like three times. (Despite this, I'm still not sure I'm happy with the final product sdfegalknaskjhg I seriously considered bombing my computer more than once while writing this.) I honestly don't know how I managed to still write my usual 6,000+ words _

Thanks again to all those who reviewed/faved/subscribed to this! I know reviews may seem like a small thing, but they are incredibly motivating! I literally squeal with joy when I get reviews – and I have live witnesses to confirm this. Please review if you can :)

On a side note, now that I'm in college, I can work on making these chapters a bit better, but being in college also means that I have little time to spend on meticulous editing. Many of you have pointed out a few grammatical errors, and I really appreciate this, but you have to understand that it's not because I don't understand topics like comma usage or the differences between their/there/they're – it's just that after spending hours and hours with a chapter, my eyes sort of auto-skip over errors. I've tried asking around for a beta, but all my requests have come up (*le sigh*) negative. Pretty much everyone who I PM'd has either told me they're taking a break from beta reading right now or they're working on too many stories at the moment and can't take up a new project. **If you are interested in beta reading this story or know a beta looking for a new story to work on, send me a PM! (I promise your PM won't just sit unanswered in my inbox!)**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, and I never will. *weeps in a corner, hugging pillow*

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><p>~ Chapter 4: The Guard ~<p>

. . . _drip . . . drip . . . drip . . ._

"When do you think she'll wake up?"

"Hell if I know – the interrogation squad did quite a number on her."

"Yeah. I know she's from that shithole Konoha, but I can't help but have a little pity for the girl."

"Careful what you say. That kind of talk could get you tried for treason."

The two guards stopped talking, the thought of being persecuted for treason setting a somber mood. One guard looked behind him through the sealed door at the seated girl. After the Raikage ordered her arrest, the interrogation team had brought her down here, warping her mind with genjutsu and taking delight in using scalpels to draw pictures on her skin. They even left some senbon embedded in her, crusting with puss and blood as the wounds became infected. She was crumpled like a ragdoll on the cement floor, weighed down by exhaustion and heavy steel chains around her ankles, wrist, and neck.

The ANBU in him attempted to suppress the pressure in his chest filled with guilt as he gazed upon the crusted blood streaks coursing down her body and the pallor shade of her skin. He knew she was supposed to be "Konoha scum," but he couldn't help but wonder what she had done to deserve such pain. Were all the restraints necessary?

He tried to not dwell on the specifics too much. Since his entrance into Kumogakure's ANBU, he had found that he was quite ignorant of the politics behind his orders. But, it wasn't his job to question what the Raikage thought was best for Kumogakure. Better to be ignorant than doubtful of his leader.

His soliloquy was interrupted as his unfocused gaze of the girl sharpened, noticing her hands attempting to stretch but flinching at the pain the movement brought. _Should I mention she's awake? _He thought. He looked over at his partner, who by now had seated himself on the ground and seemed to be enjoying a nice nap while lounging against the stone walls. He looked at the girl again to see her attempting to stretch her other joints and finding just as much pain in those.

He put his face close to the interlocking bars of the cellar door, wrapping his hands around the cold steel. "Hey," he whispered. When she didn't acknowledge him, he tried again a little louder. "Hey!" He glanced at his partner, who was still sound asleep. When he looked back at the girl, however, he was surprised to see her head tilted slightly in his direction. He backed away from the bars, suddenly realizing he hadn't expected her to respond and that he didn't really have anything to say to the girl – well, he knew he _shouldn't _have anything to say to the girl.

The two stayed like this for a moment while his head scrambled, searching for something neutral but very guard-like to say to her. _Would you like some water? No, no – too nice! _

"Uh, what's your name?" He said, but instantly questioned it. Was asking her name too nice? Names were personal, so would that mean he shouldn't have asked that?

He heard her mumble a response, but couldn't hear her clearly from this distance and her obvious exhaustion. He looked at the sealed door. It was about ten feet from where the girl was. He didn't want to tamper with the seal; he hadn't been present during the sealing and didn't know the parameters of the seal. He looked at the girl again and saw her eyes staring at the ceiling with a glazed focus. He had an idea.

"Blink if you can hear me," he said, and was happy when her eyes slowly closed and reopened. But, his joy was short-lived as he once again wanted to repeatedly beat his head on a stone wall. _Why would she need to hear you? What point is there in devising a communication system of blinking when you have nothing to talk about? You idiot! _He chastised. He could almost picture the wonderful conversations they could have: "Are you alive?" _Blink _"Oh . . . well . . . stay that way!" Yeah. Great conversations would come of that.

He sighed and returned to slouch against the wall. Why should he even try to talk to the girl? They were probably going to kill her when the Kyuubi kid showed up.

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><p>As Itachi followed the faint smear Sakura's chakra left on the branches, he was extremely thankful that she had known the most direct route to Kumogakure.<p>

At first, Itachi reveled in the quiet of the forest, breathing in the crisp wind sighing through the trees. But, the moment was short lived as Itachi's suspicious rose. Itachi hadn't sensed the presence of any other shinobi; the forests were completely empty. Why hadn't he been attacked yet? Not that he was itching for a fight, but from the information Konoha had gathered, Itachi should have run into multiple groups of shinobi stationed along the Kumogakure border. He was well within the borders of Kumogakure and he had met zero resistance. He briefly wondered if it was his changed appearance – if the Kumo shinobi saw "Naruto" was coming and let him pass through without any resistance.

Regardless of the strange absence of guards, Itachi ran forward. However, when he reached Kumo's gates, his suspicion rose even higher as the gate was unguarded. Double-checking his Naruto genjutsu, he pressed forward into the city.

As he walked through the city's cobblestone roads, a stray civilian turned onto the street Itachi was on. He took off his headband for good measure and put on Naruto's signature smile, Itachi went up to the woman, scratching the back of his head in faux nervousness. "Um, ma'am?" he started, a nervous giggle in his voice. The woman looked at "Naruto", startled at first by his voice, but visibly eased when she saw his smiling expression. It's almost too simple to deceive the unassuming. "I'm sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but I'm a little lost," he said.

"It's quite alight, dear," The woman smiled softly, "If you are looking for the festival, it's in the main square."He thanked the woman with a short bow. _Festival?_

Knowing the city from prior visits, he waited for the woman to turn around a corner before running to the main square. In Kumo, the main square was right in front of the Raikage's building. Closing in on the plaza, Itachi saw the hoards of people and the hum of urgent whispering. Realizing they were packed too densely for him to get a good view from the ground, he scaled one of the buildings bordering the square. He leaned over the edge of the roof.

Civilians and shinobi all crowded around in a semicircle around the Raikage's building. He seemed to be quite lucky in his timing, he acknowledged as he watched the Raikage walk onto the balcony of the Raikage's tower. With his ever-present scowl, the Raikage addressed the crowd.

"Citizens of Kumogakure, I am proud to stand before such a mighty group of people – a _superior_ group of people. I am proud to lead you, and today, I am proud to give you good news. Our grand city is humming with a rumor, a rumor that I am overjoyed to tell you is–" the Raikage paused for a moment, "–true." There was a collective gasp before the plaza erupted with shouts to "bring the bitch out" and "rip her worthless head off."

The Raikage smiled, pleased by the reaction of his people. He waved his hand, and the crowd gradually silenced. "Yes, locked in our dungeons, floating in a pool of her own filthy blood," the Raikage grinned, "is Haruno Sakura, the Hokage's beloved apprentice." A sort of maniacal smile reached the Raikage's eyes. Itachi sighed. He had suspected it was Haruno, but, in a rare moment of optimism, he had hoped she hadn't worsened an already annoying situation.

He left before the Raikage could finish his speech, but the cheers of the crowd could be heard miles away as Itachi ran towards the edge of Kumogakure where their interrogation unit was. He hadn't been to this place since the Second Shinobi War, but the memory of the blood-streaked cement walls and persistent stench of rotting flesh was hard to forget, even for Itachi. He hadn't been interned for very long – a short two days – but the time he had spent in the cells were enough for him to memorize the unit's layout and guard rotation. If the Raikage truly meant the things he had said about Haruno, then he knew she would be held in the active interrogation rooms. The mixture of bloodlust and pure joy in his eyes had convinced Itachi that the Raikage wasn't quite done with her.

He continued running along the perimeter of Kumo until he saw a small cottage. The cottage looked innocent enough, if not for the fact that it isn't a Kumo custom to put metal bars on cottage windows. The interrogation unit was underground, and the cottage was the only access point; there was a sealed stairwell leading to the enormous underground structure. He wasn't going to enter now – he had yet to confront the Raikage as "Naruto" – but it was good to know that Kumo's military bases remained unchanged. If their previous guard rotations were still in place, then there would be three guards around the sealed stairwell. His Sharingan confirmed three chakra signatures in the cottage. _So predictable, _he scoffed.

While there was the possibility that the Haruno girl could be on the verge of death, Itachi couldn't just barge in without exhausting all peaceful means. Tsunade surely wouldn't appreciate a Third Shinobi War that could have been avoided. In this situation, "peaceful means" meant signing the supposed treaty as "Naruto."

He perched himself in a nearby tree, considering his next move. How would Naruto approach the Raikage? _Like a complete blithering idiot, that's how, _Itachi frowned. As tactless as Naruto was, Itachi was supposed to be impersonating him and that meant appearing and _behaving _like him, unfortunately.

During the few missions Itachi had been on with Naruto, the blonde almost always ran head first into any situation without a single thought of strategy. If Naruto were really here, Itachi theorized that Naruto would have gone straight to the Raikage's tower, bursting through the door and demanding ridiculous things. Itachi would have to do this, no matter how undignified it was.

He jumped down from the branch he was on and began his trip to the Raikage's tower. As he passed through the city for a second time, the atmosphere was completely different. What had been a silent, abandoned village was now vibrant and apparently celebrating. With all the clumsy dancing and music, it was rather easy for Itachi to go unnoticed by shinobi and civilians alike.

As he approached the Raikage's tower, he reached into his pack and put Naruto's headband back on. If his identity wasn't enough for them to summon the Raikage, his Konoha loyalty surely would. He opened the large wooden door, and stood in the center of the room for a moment. In those short seconds, no one looked up at the new presence. It wasn't until the receptionist looked up, saw his headband, and screamed that he was finally ambushed by Kumo shinobi. _What would Naruto do? _Itachi thought,almost laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of that question._ Is he skilled enough to fight off this kind of attack? _Itachi realized that he should have gone on more missions with Naruto because it was becoming clear that he didn't know much about the boy's fighting level. As he exchanged a few basic taijutsu attacks with the shinobi, Itachi decided that in this situation it might be advantageous to let the men apprehend him.

The Kumo shinobi noticed he had backed down and decided that was their opportunity to apprehend him. He let them force him to the ground and restrain his hands with chakra-sealing ropes. He frowned at the ropes; those had not been apart of the plan. Chakra-sealing ropes weren't especially difficult to get out of, but they had particularly annoying and unavoidable side effects on the body. _Great, _he sighed.

Considering how nonviolent and compliant he was being, the shinobi dragged him with rather unnecessary force to the Raikage's office. He was thrown to the ground as one of the shinobi stepped forward. "Raikage-sama, we found a Konoha shinobi within the tower. What are your orders?" At this point, the Raikage had turned around, and his eyes glinted as he saw "Naruto."

"Well, what a _surprise_! What can I do for you, Naruto?" The Raikage sat at his desk, rocking the chair back and forth as he spoke.

"Teme! Where is Sakura-chan?" Itachi yelled, but the voice that came out was Naruto's. _Too much? _he wondered.

"Not to worry, Haruno-san is . . . alive," the Raikage said, "But enough about her. It seems you got my letter."

"Yeah, we got your fucking letter," Itachi said, "What do you want?"

The Raikage's hands clutched his stomach as he roared with laughter. Itachi's eyes narrowed; he didn't understand what was so funny. "Oh, my dear boy, why rush into such boring matters? We ought to have a little _fun _first!" The Raikage said through his laughter. A few moments passed with the Raikage's crazed laughing when Itachi caught a slight hand movement. The Raikage, while doubled over, casually snapped his fingers. The guards grabbed their katana and smashed the hilts into his head. It was only a second before his vision went black.

* * *

><p>The guard continued to stare at the pink-haired girl in the cell. His partnered looked over at him, giggling. "Don't worry, I'm sure the Raikage will let us play around with her when he's done. Be patient." He looked over at his partner, disgusted at such a notion. He definitely didn't share the constant animalistic need his fellow ANBU had somehow manifested during their service. Far too many times had he seen guards take advantage of female inmates, using their supposed superiority as an excuse to overpower them. He swallowed down a bit of bile as memories of the frail women flooded his mind. Their eyes were the worst part – the way they stared at him as he stood on the side, lost and submissive.<p>

As a shinobi, it wasn't very often he saw beautiful things; what beauty he did find, he wanted to cherish.

He looked over at the girl again, imagining what she must have looked like before they tortured her. One by one, his mind cleaned her of the wounds, blood, and bruising. He imagined if a river was covered in pink roses, her hair were look like that – ethereal and warm. He erased the black and blue marbling on her skin, until her skin was smooth and milky. He remembered her eyes and how amazing they were even now, strong and incandescent, reflecting the world around her with an emerald filter.

He frowned. It was such a waste for a goddess like herself to be battered like this. If his comrades were planning to have "fun" with her, he would have to find a way to protect her from their eager hands.

The echo of hurried voices pulled him from his thoughts. He looked at his partner, who was equally as confused as to who could be visiting this part of the unit. Fixing their uniforms and ANBU masks, they scrambled to their feet.

Two men were jogging down the corridor, carrying a blonde guy. His partner was the first to react. "What's this?" his partnered asked one of the officers, nodding to the body they were carrying.

"It's another Konoha shinobi, we have orders from the Raikage to put him in the cell next to the Haruno girl. Open the seal," one of the officers ordered.

They stated to assume positions to unseal the door, but paused to turn to the officer. "We aren't able to open it, sir. It was done by an entire sealing team – there's no way the two of us can open it," his partner said.

The officer laughed, "Is that what they told you? Oh, boy. Look, guys, it's just a simple C Rank seal. We don't have the resources for anything fancier than that right now." They let out a barely audible "Oh" and proceeded to form the basic seals needed. Within moments the seal was dropped.

They undid the chains around the lock and the two ANBU threw the blonde guy into the cell. The man slumped onto the cement floor. The officers slid the barred door closed, the metal crashing against the cell's rusted frame. Wiping the rust off their hands on their pants, they returned their attention to the two guards. "Oh, and the Raikage said to let one of you leave. They'll be passed out for a while, so it'd be a waste to have you both on active duty."

"I'll stay!" he said, immediately chastising himself for sounding so eager. Who _ever _wants to stay on duty? He probably sounded ridiculous. The officer gave him a strange expression but nodded nonetheless. His partner thanked him and started to pack his things, shoving things in his bag with an eager forcefulness.

The men left as quickly as they came, laughing as though they weren't in the basement of an interrogational unit. As the last trances of the men disappeared, the hallway became eerily silent.

He was alone. Well, except for the two half-dead Konoha shinobi, but that wasn't very comforting.

He lowered himself to the ground, leaning his side against the door of the cell. Resting his head on a horizontal bar, he returned to gazing at the girl. The officer had called her "Haruno," making him wonder if that was her clan name or her first name.

He looked over at the man in the cell beside her. The guy had absurdly bright yellow hair, spiked in way that defied all laws of gravity. _Geez, you need to lay off the gel. _His obnoxious orange suit was rather impractical for a shinobi. The guy might as well carry a sign saying, "Please attack me! I want to die!" Konoha shinobi were supposedly really stupid, but were they really that stupid?

His eyes flickered between the two of them. He knew it was foolish, but he hoped they didn't know one another.

Ignoring the new addition to the cells, he sat the way he was for hours, looking at the pink rose on the floor. He shuffled around, stretching his legs, but the next two days passed with relative ease and silence. A guard had come once to let him sleep and another to bring him a meal and that was all. He just sat there. But, he was content to do so.

On the third day, though, the Raikage had announced there to be a national holiday, to celebrate the capture of the two Konoha shinobi. The whole town roared above ground, and the lone guard in the interrogation unit was quickly forgotten. No one came to check on him, and he was given meals in advance so no one had to deliver food. The partying above ground lasted three days.

Initially, he thought his mind was playing a trick on him. After days of imagining fictional conversations with the woman, he thought he had finally gone loopy. It wasn't until she spoke with an almost inaudible croak that he realized he wasn't hallucinating.

"Hello?" she said with a raspy voice.

He panicked. Only a few days ago he had hoped to talk to her via blinking, he had never imagined she'd speak – or at least be healthy and conscious enough to do so. He turned from his position to fully face the cell, grasping the bars with both his hands. He swallowed a few times before finally finding his voice.

"Uh, hi?" he said. She attempted to sit upright but groaned in pain.

"Where am I?" she said, croaking again. _Maybe I should get her water? _He thought. He reached for his water but frowned at the bottle's emptiness.

"You're in . . . Kumo," he said slowly. He wasn't exactly sure where to say she was. He could have lied and said she was in Konoha, but she probably would have seen through that. However, if he had said she was in Kumo's Interrogation Unit . . . Well, she probably wouldn't have reacted positively to that either. Being told you're in what was essentially a torture unit isn't the best thing to wake up to. "What's your name?" he said, in hopes that it would distract her from focusing on her location.

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><p>Sakura looked at the masked man. She had no idea if he was telling the truth, but she did remember her current situation. She was talking with the Raikage and was attacked by his men. They had tried to torture answers from her, but the rest was a blur. She vaguely remembered waking up for a few moments, but her memories stopped there. Was she still in the interrogation unit? And if so, was this man part of the squad? Was he going to continue where the others left off?<p>

She sighed. Too tired to dissect his motives, she decided that it was entirely plausible that he really did just want to know her name. "Haruno Sakura."

There was no answer, but that didn't surprise her. Placing her hand under her, Sakura tried to push herself up again, but was met with a searing pain in her back. After gauging that she had no chakra – and wouldn't be able to use it anyway since they never removed the chakra seals – she opted to just roll over to see outside her cell, which was painful enough. _Oh kami, what I would give for a few drops of medical chakra right now! _

As she lay on her side, she looked outside the bars of her cell. There was the masked man seated outside her cell, but it seemed like she was the only inmate in this section; the row of cells across from her were dirty, but empty nonetheless. Although she couldn't see them due to the large cement walls, she assumed the cells next to her were also empty judging from the silence.

Her lack of chakra and impaired condition was truly the most frustrating part of this entire situation; she was so damn tired. There was nothing she could do at the moment, so she just closed her eyes, thinking of medical ninjutsu to pass the time; she assumed she'd be here a while with nothing to do, so distracting herself with medical ninjutsu seemed like a practical way to keep her sane in this situation.

While going through the removal of a pulmonary mass, she had only gotten to opening the thoracic cavity before her imaginary OR was interrupted by the screech of the metal door moving.

Opening one eye, Sakura was shocked to see the masked man within her cell. Her body coiled away from the man as he approached her.

She had no chakra and no energy to fight off the man, and to top it off, she was injured; all Sakura could do was try and drag herself away, which is exactly what she did. She twisted her body, throwing her hands out to grasp anything she could use to pull herself away with. She managed to move herself a few inches away from the man, but he closed that distance with little effort. Her exasperated pulling was no match for his fully working legs.

He slowly extended his arm out to her but stopped in time for his hand to hover near her face.

Her heart was racing, panicking, and despite her best efforts to appear strong and confident, she probably looked like a frightened child. It was like her genin years all over again; helplessly waiting for someone else to protect her.

The man watched her for a few moments, following the tremors that rippled down her spine and watching her chest expand and contract with short breathes. She watched as his eyes took in the various bruises shadowing her skin. For a second, Sakura thought he was actually going to touch her, but he clenched the hand near his face and retreated to outside her cell. Leaning his back on her now closed cell door, he trained his attention on cells across from her.

Silence took over as both were absorbed in their own thoughts. Sakura's mind was deconstructing what had just happened and psychoanalyzing this man's moves. Why had he almost touched her? What had he been thinking? What had stopped him?

All she knew about this man was that he was a part of Kumogakure's ANBU . . . and that was it. Sakura realized that wasn't much to go off of as far as psychoanalysis goes, but it didn't stop her curiosity from reaching out.

"Are you a part of the integration squad?" she asked, thinking it'd be nice to know if this man was going to be torturing her later. He never turned around, but she could tell he shook his head. She frowned at his silence; he seemed okay with talking when she woke up not long ago. Accepting that he would stay silent – and that she didn't want to play twenty questions with a silent man – she moved on to more productive matters like moving. If she could figure out a way to move her body, she could get in a seating position that would allow her body to heal itself without chakra and without the added pain of a lying on a cement floor.

Remembering the pain from her back the first time she tried to sit up, Sakura realized that knowing her injuries would probably be a good starting place. But, thanks to the chakra seals, she had so do the exam manually instead of directing her medical chakra to various areas. She looked down at her arms, figuring out which was less injured and therefore which she could use. Her right arm felt – and definitely looked – broken, so she opted to use her left arm, which was tucked underneath her as she lay on her side. _Of course I would be lying on the good arm_, she sighed. Biting her lip, she moved her body to lie on her back. Initially wincing from her injured back making contact with the unforgiving floor, she shifted around until she found a position where her pain level was at its dullest.

Taking her newly freed left hand, she started with her head and worked her way down, thoroughly palpating the skin to feel for any irregularities beneath. And, oh my, were there irregularities.

She wondered how the hell she was conscious but eventually chalked it up to over-productive adrenal glands.

Her right arm and two of her ribs were broken, not to mention she felt muscular bruising along her abdomen and spine. After checking her vitals, she realized her labored breathing was from one of the broken ribs protruding into her left lung. She didn't want to even count the number of topical bruises and lacerations she found pretty much everywhere. She also found a number of senbon still embedded in her skin, but she didn't dare touch them; by removing them, she could leave herself vulnerable to an infection from the open wound it would leave behind.

Once again, Sakura found the irony of her situation almost laughable. Here she was, a top level medic-nin – not only extremely knowledgeable about her field, but also resourceful in her approach to treating patients – and she wasn't able to heal herself.

After a bit of self-loathing and pouting, she became aware of her surroundings again. As she looked up, she noticed that the masked man had been watching her during her self-exam. That wasn't creepy at all.

The masked man quickly looked away, perhaps out of bashfulness, but more likely because of the voices approaching them both. The man quickly got up, resuming a more guard-like position. Sakura didn't bother moving at all; there was no real advantage to being in a specific spot in this cell until she knew more about her situation.

Two Kumogakure ANBU stepped in front of her cell and addressed the masked man. They exchanged simple greetings, and the new ANBU apologized for something, but Sakura didn't understand what they meant.

"I see the pink one's awake. Has the other one woken up yet?" one of the guards asked, looking at the obviously awake Sakura. _Other one? There's someone else here? _Sakura had no idea who it could be, but she assumed it was just some prisoner from the war.

"No, he hasn't moved," her guard said, fidgeting with hands in an anxious manner, "Um, well, I think we should – not that we have to, but I think it would be advisable to heal them a little bit." There was a silence that prevailed for a few moments. The two men gave her guard a blank expression. "Healing them would ensure they don't die on us, since their deaths would mean we no longer hold any leverage over Konoha," he continued. The two men looked at each other for a moment, his words.

"Okay, Gaku. But you're taking responsibility for this. We can't let them leave the interrogation unit, and we can't spare any healers at the moment. If you can find a way to heal them despite that, go ahead," the ANBU said, already turning away to leave. They said their goodbyes while their voices diminished in the halls, shrinking until the men were out of sight.

_Uh, what just happened? _Sakura thought. Were they allowing her to have her medical chakra? What was this man – Gaku – up to? And who was the other prisoner?

Gaku turned to her, and they stared at each other for a long time before either person moved. Eventually, Gaku's shoulders sagged from a long sigh. "Were you listening?" he asked. Seriously? She was like ten feet away. It would have been hard _not _to. She nodded, and he sighed again. Her eyes narrowed.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked. Her voice was a bit tentative; she wasn't sure she was allowed to speak. Apparently, she could since he didn't change his demeanor. In fact, he seemed to deflate even further.

"You're a Konoha prisoner. That's all I know for sure. Oh, and you're name is Haruno Sakura." He said, sounding rather defeated. He mumbled something to himself that sounded vaguely like, "but that won't help," but the volume of the words made them more for himself than her. He paused and turned to look at her for a long moment. "Should I know who you are?" he eventually said.

An unintentional scoff left Sakura's throat. She didn't intend to sound condescending, but in this situation, her identity wasn't just a fun fact; it was pretty damn relevant. "You don't know who I am?" she asked, trying to sound more neutral this time. He shook his head. A sigh left her this time. "Did the Raikage tell you _anything_?" This man must know something; he was ANBU. At least in Konoha, being ANBU automatically meant you were informed of anything and everything relating to the village. Perhaps Kumogakure was different?

Gaku shook his head again. "Raikage-sama is a very private man." _Great, _Sakura mentally scowled. She was dealing with not only this ignorant ANBU, but probably an ignorant country. _Psh, "private man." What a load of bullshit. _

Keeping this Kumo ANBU in the dark wouldn't benefit her in anyway. She knew she could make it out of her with her skills, but her escape would happen at a pace she couldn't afford at the moment. Sakura hoped that his ignorance meant he was also malleable. _Now the question is: where to start? _Sakura pondered. He obviously didn't know anything, which meant Sakura had the distinct advantage of choosing what information he received.

Before Sakura could think of her first question, he asked something first. "Who are you?"

Sakura's eyebrow rose, "I'm Haruno Sakura. You already know that."

He shook his head, "No, who are you really? Who were you in Konoha?" He may be ignorant, but at least he had some semblance of a brain. Sakura repositioned herself against the wall. She knew his question opened countless branches that he would no doubt explore. She accepted the fact that she would answer them all, and she wouldn't lie. If he found out she was withholding information or lying, he wouldn't trust her anymore, and she would have to think of a new plan of action.

Sighing, she began telling him about being the Hokage's apprentice, about being an expert medic-nin, about coming to Kumogakure to seek peace. He was quiet the whole time, patiently absorbing all this new information.

When she finished, he allowed her to ask question, but his answered told her what she already knew. He had no idea why she was down here, why the war began, or why the Raikage suddenly hated Konoha. She knew just as much as before they began speaking.

There was a lull in the conversation before he spoke again. "Do you know that guy?" His hand lazily motioned toward the cell next to her.

"No," she said, shaking her head, "Do you know who it is?"

"Nope. He's just some Konoha shinobi–"

"What did you say?" She interrupted him. _Konoha shinobi? _Her mind scrambled. Who was it? Was it someone she knew? Her heart sank at the possible answer to that.

"That I don't know him?" He said slowly, startled by her sudden eagerness.

"No, the other part, the part where – oh, forget it! What does he look like?" Her words rushed out, impatiently waiting for this man to get to the point.

His boy language reflected his understanding, but Sakura swore she saw some hesitance in his posture. The wavering could have been from something else, but Sakura's mind immediately gravitated to the idea it _was _someone she knew.

"Well, he's blonde. I'm not really sure what he's wearing, but it's orange for some reason. Ring any bells?" _Ring any bells? Right, like the man you just described doesn't have an international reputation. _As sure as she was, she had to confirm it. She didn't want to worry over some other orange-clad idiot.

"Does he have lines on his cheeks? Like this?" She used the index finger on her good arm to draw invisible whiskers on her face. He nodded.

Sakura sank into the wall, her shoulders curving so her body caved in on itself. She felt nothing. She didn't want to feel anything. Naruto was _here_, and he had been this whole time while she was yammering away with some pathetic excuse of an ANBU operative. A shaky sigh left her lungs in jagged bursts, as she called her mind. Escape plans were quickly thrown away and replaced by the urgency to see Naruto and make sure he was breathing. _But what if he isn't? What if he's just as injured as I am, or worse? _Sakura cursed her damn brain for going there.

Gaku stood up in front of her cell. "Hey, are you okay?" Sakura's silent response was a pained smile; the irony of his words was not lost on her. Biting her lip hard, she focused on the sting of her teeth cutting through the pliant flesh of her lips. The familiar taste of salt and metal seeped into her mouth. _Focus, Sakura. You need to get to Naruto. This is no time to wallow in unnecessary woes. _

Gaku repeated his question, and this time Sakura looked up. He saw her lip, reaching out to her through the bars, but the movement only showed as a slight twitch as he stopped himself. "Are you okay?" he asked for a third time, more insistent. His eyes left her bloody lip, and gazed down at the older wounds. "You're not okay. You need to be healed." He answered himself, "Aren't you a medic-nin? Why haven't you healed yourself?"

With a breathy laugh, lifted her good arm in the air and gave it a good shake, causing her shackles to rattle. He understood her meaning, releasing a frustrated sigh. Sakura looked with confusion at the man, wondering what he was thinking about to cause his eyes to stare with such intent at the cell bars.

"If . . . If I let you have some chakra . . . would you promise to use it just for healing?" His voice was slow and methodical, like he wasn't sure what repercussions his words would have.

As much as Sakura wanted to eagerly agree, she had to accept that her body wasn't the only one she had to worry about now. She had to somehow get to Naruto, and this opportunity was too good to not exploit. Adopting his same tentative tone, Sakura spoke. "Are we bargaining?"

It was his turn to laugh this time. "'Bargaining', huh? It would only be bargaining if I got something I wanted in return."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>This was a tricky transition chapter (my apologies if it was a tad boring), but the next chapter should be a little easier (and much more exciting) since it doesn't need any set up like this one did.

If you can, please review!


	5. Limited Supply

**Author's Note: **I'M ALIVEEEE! I've actually had this chapter done for about a week now, but I wanted a Halloween update :P Happy Halloween everyone, remember to stay safe! In other news: I whipped up a cover image :D You guys like it?

A HUGE thanks to everyone who subscribed/favorited/reviewed! I can't tell you enough how much I appreciate the support! For those of you that are fellow writers, you know how much even a single review can get the creative juices flowing :)

To neccromancer2000: I couldn't respond to your message since it was written as a guest. I scrapped "A New Legend" a few years back because I lost all motivation for the story and fandom, not to mention I've rewritten that story like three times and I'm still not happy with it. . . If you're curious about what was going to happen (and since I don't plan on rewriting it _again_ or reposting it), you can PM me for a summary of everything that was going to happen :)

**Disclaimer: **Clearly, I own Naruto. This is fo' realz, people.

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><p>~ Chapter 5: Limited Supply ~<p>

"Perhaps I _could _give you something you wanted," she said, completely oblivious to what her words were doing to the man, or where the words led his thoughts. He suddenly shifted around, forcing a cough.

"Fine. What do you want?" He said, coughing once more for good measure.

"My chakra. However much you can give me. And I want to be in the same cell as him," she pointed to the cell next to her, indicating who she was referring to. She didn't know if the guard knew who Naruto was, but he would probably recognize the name of the Kyuubi container, even if he didn't recognize his appearance.

Gaku remained silent for a while. "Fine," he finally said. He walked to face Naruto's cell and joined hands together in front of him, beginning the to unseal the door.

"Wait!" He stopped mid-seal as Sakura called after him, "You never said what your terms were."

He turned to her. "How about a very large IOU . . . or something to that effect?" She was skeptical about this, but considering her terms and the position she made them in, she agreed. Honestly, if she had been in any other prison or with any other guard, this deal wouldn't even be happening. She doubted she would even be able talk if this were any other situation. "For now, at least, my terms are that your chakra usage be limited to healing and nothing more," he added. Considering everything, his request was quite reasonable. Sakura nodded.

Gaku continued to unseal the door. After he disappeared from her view, all Sakura heard was a combination of grunting and cloths dragging on the floor. He returned to her view, dragging Naruto on the floor. _Seriously? Dragging?_ Sakura felt a burst of anger at his stupidity for dragging a potentially injured man on the ground, but she refused to let her anger surface.

_He doesn't look too bad, _Sakura thought, sounding skeptical even in her mind. He was unconscious, but from the looks of it, they hadn't hurt him. Gaku unsealed her cell door and dragged Naruto to the center of the floor. They both stood still for a moment before he stepped over Naruto and approached her. Remembering the last time he tried to approach her, she forced her body not to jerk or react in anyway that would make this man not remove the shackles suppressing her chakra. He seemed to also remember because his movements were slow and predictable to not cause any unneeded surprises.

"I can only take the wrist ones off," he said. She responded by forcing both her good and bad arm above her head. He sent a small burst of chakra through the thick metal bracelets, unlocking them. They fell from Sakura's wrists and collided with the cement floor. He picked them up and exited the cell, sealing the door behind him.

Sakura didn't feel the instant gush of chakra she had been anticipating. Instead, her chakra slowly seeped through the previously blocked channels, starting in her chest and coursing its way through the pathways until she could feel its warmth in her fingertips. Of course, the chakra only reached her torso and arms; the ankle and neck shackles limited the areas her chakra could reach and how much she could use by trapping chakra in those areas. She figured that was why he only took the wrist ones off; she was capable of healing with her feet, but it was completely unorthodox. Not to mention it just looked weird, and it was inefficient in all sorts of ways.

Before she lost herself in the relishing of her returned chakra, Sakura had to remind herself why she had the chakra in the first place: to heal herself and Naruto. Measuring how much chakra had become available to her, Sakura found that only forty percent of her reserves were available to her; the rest was trapped by the other restraints. She knew she should feel lucky to have chakra at all, but Sakura couldn't help but feel disappointed.

Forty percent was certainly a lot, but it would require precise monitoring and rationing if she wanted to make it last. And part of that monitoring was setting priorities. Right now, Naruto's wellbeing took precedence over her own, but she needed two usable arms if she wanted to be efficient with her healing. She began to heal her injured arm, which didn't take long. Healing broken bones was almost second nature to Sakura; it was the one type of injury that everyone from shinobi to civilians got, which meant broken bones were everywhere at the hospital. Her arm healed nicely, and Sakura turned and flexed it to make sure everything was at it should be.

With both arms healed, she looked at the slumped pile in front of her that was Naruto. She looked at where she was, and then where Naruto was. Sighing, she realized she would have to move to reach Naruto. Dragging her body to where Naruto was, she immediately regretted leaving the support of the wall. Along with holding her up, the wall forced her back to be straight, avoiding the pain her broken ribs were causing while they bent into her lungs. She let out an exasperated sigh, and began dragging Naruto, as well as her worn body, back to the wall.

She rested her back against the wall again with her legs stretched out in front of her. Now that she was able to be a bit gentler with Naruto's body, she gingerly placed his head in her lap. She gave him a quick lookover and found no wounds except the scratches caused by all the dragging. She palpated some crucial areas for damage, doing her internal injury scan manually to further preserve her limited chakra. Her shoulders sagged as she exhaled with relief. He was fine.

She had seen Naruto asleep many times before on missions. Even when the team was tense, he managed to contort his body in strange sleeping positions, while his mouth hung wide open with drool seeping down his jaw. He was not a peaceful sleeper. But, the sleeping Naruto that was in her lap was the epitome of peaceful sleeping. Not a single muscle twitched; even his eyes remained still in their sockets. She placed her thumbs on his eyebrows, taming the excited hairs and enjoying the feel of the hairs knitting together. Those eyebrows were normally moving everywhere, creating the most extreme expressions that Sakura hadn't even known were possible for facial muscles.

Her hands had moved on their own from his eyebrows to tracing the bridge of his nose and then his jawline. She had seen his face so many times that it seemed almost silly to be doing such things, but her hands continued nonetheless. Having Naruto here with her was bittersweet. She was relieved that he was alright, and his brother-like presence calmed the boiling anxiety she had from her current state. But, Naruto being with her meant that he was also here in Kumo, not in Konoha_. _If only she knew how to summon his toads, then they could reverse-summon him to the safety of their world. For now, she let her fingers sink into his hair, keeping some sort of physical contact as though the feel of Naruto's hair was confirming the solidity of his existence. _Oh, Naruto . . . what am I going to do with you?_

* * *

><p>Itachi's chest expanded and contracted evenly as his mother combed her fingers through his hair, which was long even as a boy. His head was resting in her lap as she hummed, taking the dry cloth off his forehead to replace it with a freshly dampened one. Itachi remembered this scene with great clarity as it had recurred frequently in his childhood due to his illness. As an adult, he now coughed blood and gasped through the sponges in his lungs alone. In fact, if he didn't know better, he was sure his mother believed he'd outgrown his childhood illness.<p>

But there was something wrong with this scene. Itachi's eyes flickered down to his body, and he was clearly not a child. And Mikoto hadn't shown him such motherly affection since before his induction as a jonin. Returning his gaze to his mother, he inspected her features. She certainly looked real, but then again, his mind had plenty of references to make his mother life-like in his dreams. But what of how it felt? His exhaustion from desperately grasping for air was so overbearing, and the feel of his mother's touch was just as soothing as he remembered. Surely such things couldn't be replicated in a dream?

If Itachi had been anyone else, they would have left these questions alone and enjoyed the comfort of a warm, nostalgic dream. But Itachi wasn't everyone else, and as a Sharingan user, Itachi knew better than most the dangers withheld in dream-like states. In a mixture of curiosity and caution, Itachi began to think of way to test the limits of this world. There was no better way to test boundaries than to interact with it.

"Okaa-san?" he said in a neutral tone. She smiled at him, but slowly shook her head. That meant nothing to Itachi; for all he knew, his mind was recalling the movement from a memory. He had to get her to verbally respond to him. He started again, "Okaa-san, where are we?"

Her smiled remained, and she spoke in her delicate voice, "I wish I knew, Itachi." Itachi frowned at this. The clearing they were in was a frequented picnic spot in the Uchiha forest. His mother, even a dream-version of her, would know this place.

"You're not Mikoto, are you?" He asked. Perhaps this was a merely a projection, a personified fragment of his mental machinations?

She shook her head. "No, I am not. But you need me just as much as you need Mikoto." _A little presumptuous, aren't we? _Itachi scoffed.

"Why do I need you?" Itachi said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes.

She began tracing the bridge of his nose, and then across his brow, circling down to his jaw. "I'm here to remind you to wake up." _Wake up?_

Itachi's eyes narrowed. He continued to stare at the upside-down image of this woman, whose smile only broadened under the intense scrutiny. She exhaled slowly, the air minutely shifting the dark threads of hair covering Itachi's forehead. She lowered her head, gently placing her lips on his forehead, so the skin only grazed his own. She didn't move from this position, and Itachi didn't dare move either.

"Itachi . . . my dear Itachi." Her lips brushed his forehead with each word. "You must go back."

Itachi, emboldened by the reassurance that this was a dream, reached up to feel the black curtain of hair encircling his face. As he touched it, however, he felt something warm and sticky. Retracting his hand, he saw red smears covering his hands, as though the pulverized remains of a squashed strawberry coated his palm.

Shocked by the blood, he sat up and turned to look at the woman properly. But he only got as far as supporting himself with his elbows before he felt his lungs shrivel and his breath turn to wheezes. _Fuck . . . _Itachi distantly thought as his body shook with cough after cough hammering his chest.

The woman's hand cupped his cheek, forcing him to look up at her. In his pained haze, he no longer saw Mikoto's features looking upon him, but an empty face. "You must go back," Mikoto's voice repeated as the now faceless woman dug her nails into the cheek she had previously been caressing so tenderly.

Itachi didn't get a chance to look upon the faceless woman again as another coughing fit overtook his senses.

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><p>It had been almost an hour of silence as Naruto rested in her lap, unmoving and breathing regularly. Her first tip-off that something was wrong was when a small hum left Naruto's throat. She had mistaken this for him possibly waking up, but she revisited her suspicions when his breathing picked up and his hands started twitching. Twitching became shaking, and she had to hold his shoulders down to keep him from rolling off her lap. He began to cough, the sound was dry and hoarse, and droplets of his blood were spewed across her pants, joining the preexisting red stains.<p>

Sakura rarely doubted herself, but when she saw Naruto cough up the blood, her mind backtracked. She ran and reran through every muscle, bone, vessel – every cell of skin that her hands and chakra had felt. She didn't understand. What did she miss?

Naruto's body heaved again, and a fresh spray of blood was added to the macabre splatter painting on her thigh. The action tore Sakura away from her self-depreciation and gave her a new focus: find what she missed.

She repositioned herself to kneel beside his body. Tearing off what remained of her long-sleeve shirt, she balled it up and tucked it under his head. She gauged how much chakra she had left and found her 40% was now down to 25% after healing Naruto and her arms. Her previous explorative exam used up an insignificant amount of chakra, but it had clearly not been enough. But how much chakra could she afford to use on a more in-depth exam? When Naruto's body caved in with another round of coughing, Sakura found her answer.

She pushed his shoulders back down and yanked his jacket open. She lifted his shirt up to his neck and was greeted by an expanse of enflamed skin, shining from a sheen of sweat. She placed her hands on his chest, starting with the cardiovascular system since that's where the coughing was most liking originating from. She drew her chakra to her hands, training her senses on the feeling of it seeping from her hand to the sweaty skin over his sternum. Her chakra spread like a cool gel over his chest and traveled through the porous tissue.

Her chakra sank through the skin and sought out the rapidly twitching muscle that was Naruto's heart. Wrapping it around the muscle, she directed a stream of chakra through the arteries, checking for any functional issues. There weren't any. Naruto's heart was strong and resilient, and its accelerated beating was a reaction to something else in the body.

She detached her chakra from his heart and went on to check the lungs next. As she attempted to envelope his two lungs, a barrier deflected her chakra. She focused harder, attempting to breech the lung tissue from a single point instead. The barrier didn't budge. She tried again and again and at many different points. _What the hell is around your lungs, Naruto? _Sakura thought, straining her chakra against the fortress. This was all a waste of time, and Sakura knew it. But, Sakura couldn't help but feel as though she should do more. She had withdrawn all this chakra from her limited reserves, and now it was floating uselessly in Naruto's body.

She sank from her kneeling position to a seated one, and Sakura held her chakra still while she considered her next move. She couldn't fix Naruto's cough with that barrier in the way, she couldn't reabsorb the chakra to heal herself – what could she do? She could use the chakra to wake him, but she would rather he wake up naturally; forcing a person awake had a chance of minor brain damage, depending on the state of the patient. It was a slim chance, but a chance nonetheless.

After mulling it over, Sakura decided to heal all of Naruto's bruises that she had deemed unnecessary during her first healing. With the bruises healed, Naruto would have little to no pain upon waking. Sakura, on the hand, was definitely going to be in pain. She had only healed her arms in an effort to conserve as much chakra for healing Naruto or any emergencies; As Konoha's golden boy and the future Hokage, Naruto's well-being preceded her own. As noble as that was, it meant Sakura still had some wonderful senbon just hanging out in her skin, and they were only the beginning of her pleasant list of injuries.

Sakura's adrenaline high was wearing down, and she was beginning to feel the accumulated effects of her injuries. Her breathing was more labored, and she felt a fog creep over her senses. Vaguely in the background, she heard the guard asking if she was alright. _Is he capable of asking anything else? _Sakura thought.

Her eyes once again drifted to Naruto. She couldn't lose her senses now, not when he could have another attack. She needed to clear her head, and she needed to do it now before she passed out. Any healing she did right now would be sloppy and insufficient, so it wasn't even worth the energy. How else could she clear her senses in this situation? The fog was thickening, but Sakura still managed to distinguish one thought.

She needed more adrenaline. She needed a fresh injury.

Her sight was fading, so her hand blindly felt her abdomen for senbon. She yanked out three of them. Grasping all three in a fist, she slammed them into her thigh.

The pain was immediate, but so was the clarity. The wound began to bleed, painting her hand red. She brought it up to her face to smother a whimper, but her shaking hand missed her mouth and smeared the fresh blood onto her cheeks instead.

As her hand failed its task, her whimper traveled to the ears of the Kumo guard. He was shouting something now. _Shut. Up. _She begged in her thoughts. She was bleeding, in pain again, and barely gripping onto consciousness. The last thing she needed for someone incoherently yelling at her and expecting a response. The man wasn't a mind reader, but she sincerely wished he were.

In a moment of cruel irony, Sakura noticed the guard unlocking the door and approaching her. Her brain had woken up, but her body was still rebooting. Her was now mirroring her kneeled position, hovering hands over her. He was so close, his voice refused to not be heard.

"Um, Ha-Haruno-san? Are you okay?" Gaku said. _You're using honorifics? You are aware that I'm a prisoner, right?_ Sakura thought, trying to focus on his hovering hands and when he was going to decide to stop moving them. She looked up at him, giving him the most nonplussed look she could muster at that moment. He seemed to get her hint cause he subsequently decided to place his hands on her shoulders. She noticed one hand was apparently still antsy as it resumed its hovering, this time over her bleeding thigh. _Don't touch it, don't touch it, don't-SHIT! _She flinched away from the hand and its damnable curiosity. In Gaku's defense, he was quick to realize his mistake and ceased prodding the wound.

Her body wavered for a moment, and it occurred to her she may have been too overzealous with the stabbing. The guard's hands returned to her shoulders, and against her better judgment, she let him lean her body against his side. He wouldn't kill her. Probably.

* * *

><p>Itachi couldn't remember a time he'd been so exhausted. He knew he'd been asleep , or at least passed out, but the hours he'd logged unconscious had done nothing for his energy levels. Itachi also couldn't remember a time he wasn't in at least a little pain. Breathing problems aside, he felt pretty good – great even. His bones felt good in their sockets, and his muscles were warm.<p>

Although his body felt good, he felt a few unidentifiable objects touching him. He recognized the cold metal as the shackles and collar restraining his chakra, but there was something soft under his head. Prison cells don't come with pillows, so Itachi went to sit up and investigate the object. As he opened his eyes, he saw a Kumo ANBU cradling the Haruno girl in his arms.

Moving as fast as his body would let him, he used his arm as a lever and propped himself into a sitting position. As he moved, though, his peripheral vision saw orange. Following the flash of color, his eyes landed on his very orange chest. He was still Naruto. He wondered how the henge was still holding up, but thought it unimportant as the Kumo shinobi went to take off Sakura's chest bandages. Itachi was quick to grab the man's hand.

The shinobi appeared stunned by Itachi's movement, but even more so by the fact that he was no longer a lifeless body on the floor. They both held their positions, and neither made an attempt to speak. It wasn't until Sakura groaned that Itachi broke eye contact with the Kumo shinobi.

"I, uh, well . . . you're awake," the shinobi said. Itachi sincerely hoped all Kumo ANBU were this stupid; it would make their escape that much easier. Remembering to play his part, Itachi decided that Naruto would have been nothing but boisterous and vocal at this point.

"Of course I'm awake, you idiot! Get your damn hands off Sakura-chan!" He yelled. He moved to attack the shinobi, with no real motive other than the fact that Naruto would not have held back from strangling this man.

The guard curled his body around Sakura, pulling her away from Itachi. The man put Sakura down behind him, crouching on the floor with his hands in a battle-ready position. "Do you . . . do you know her?" He asked. Was the man attached to her or something? Itachi may not know the feeling of "love", but he'd read enough about the condition to see it in others. Itachi had prepared himself for many situations that Sakura could have gotten into. But, Itachi had not thought to prepare for a love-struck Kumo shinobi; he would have been less surprised to find Sakura dead.

Itachi growled, "_Do I know her? _You have no right to ask that, teme!" He launched himself at the man – an idiot move, but then again, so were most of Naruto's actions. The two of them wrestled for a few moments, but they both became still at the sound of someone approaching the cell. Itachi allowed the Kumo man to shove him back. The shinobi sprinted out the cell, locking the door, and resuming a stiff posture.

"Gaku! What the hell is going on down here? I thought you could handle a few Konoha scum." Another Kumo ANBU's voice echoed down the tunnel of cells as he approached.

"I can, sir. It's just," the guard paused, looking down at his shoes, "It's just that, uh, the girl's injured. I, um, went in because . . . because I wanted to make sure she wasn't dead." A lame excuse, but the man clearly wasn't clever enough to come up with anything better.

"Who the fuck cares? If she's dead, let her rot in the cell. We have the Kyuubi kid, and that's all that matters," the ANBU officer said. A strange glimmer appeared in the guard's eyes.

The officer was about to walk away, but the guard's voice stopped him. "If it doesn't matter – you know, whether she dies or not – could I, uh, could I take her?" _. . . What the . . . _Itachi's thoughts came to an abrupt halt. _Maybe this is more than just a crush_, he reluctantly admitted. Was he really going to whisk away Haruno? What worried him even more was how normal the officer treated the request.

"Teme, you can't take Sakura-chan from me!" Itachi yelled, "If you take her, I'll kill you!" If Itachi had ever been thankful for his Naruto henge, it was then. Perhaps the prospect of Naruto being violently uncooperative with their plans would cause them to keep Haruno here; taking Sakura would add an unnecessary complication to their already bothersome position.

Just as Itachi had hoped, the officer acquiesced. "I'd normally have no problem with it, but she might keep the kitten's hissing at bay. Kami knows I don't have the patience for that shit."

The guard visibly deflated but nodded anyway. The officer's brow furrowed, questioning the guard's peculiar attachment to the girl. Clearing his throat, he once again addressed his fellow Kumo shinobi, "If I have to come down here again, I can guarantee you'll be their neighbor. Maybe some cell time will teach you to be a better shinobi."

The officer's threat hung in the air as he turned to leave. The sound of his clicking heels disappeared with him down the underground corridor.

Itachi looked at the Kumo shinobi again. He looked pathetic. Hunched over and rejected, he was staring at the ground with such sadness Itachi thought a literal raincloud was going to appear over his head. With the shinobi wallowing in . . . in whatever it was he was wallowing in, he felt safe turning off his Naruto-persona and assessing Haruno.

He turned to see the girl propped against the wall, her chest bandages partially ripped from before. He crawled over to her, releasing the henge on his eyes. But as he went to shift Naruto's blue eyes into his red pinwheels, nothing happened. _Hm, that's . . . interesting. _He filed away the information for later but resumed assessing the myriad of injuries she'd collected.

They were crusted with yellow puss and reeked of decaying flesh, save for the senbon embedded imbedded in her thigh and actively bleeding. Other than the three senbon, Sakura had other weapons sticking out of her skin, like they'd made her into some kind of human pushpin doll. She had on the same shackles that he had, but someone had recently taken off the ones on her wrists from the look of the raw skin there. If her wrists were free, why didn't she heal herself?

It was at this point that Itachi looked at himself for injuries and got the answer to his question. He was in flawless condition; not a scratch or cut to be found. She'd used her released hands to heal him. But who released them? He turned to the shinobi guard.

The Kumo shinobi had turned towards them, watching Itachi inspect Sakura. He was staring in particular at the chest bandages he'd ripped. "I . . . I wasn't going to do anything," the ANBU said, "I just wanted to help her."

"Were you the one who took off her wrist restraints?" Itachi asked. There was probably a more Naruto-like way to ask, but he highly doubted this shinobi would notice the difference.

The man nodded. "She was injured, and I – I thought," he paused, looking at Itachi, "I thought she would heal herself. Not you." He mumbled an apology as an afterthought.

"I don't suppose you'd remove mine?" Itachi smirked. The joke was lost on the shinobi, as he seemed more bristled than amused. "I'll take that as a 'no'."

It would be rather convenient if the shinobi extended the generosity to him. The shackles seemed to be interfering with the Naruto henge; Itachi was stuck in this appearance. It was most likely due to the fact that the shackles had been put on in the midst of the jutsu, so the trapped chakra had become frozen in an activated state in his pathways. He'd never heard of such a case, but once Sakura awakened, she would have more information with her med-nin background. But, his inability to shift his eyes to his Sharingan posed a unique complication.

The Kumo shinobi coughed. "Is she your girlfriend?"

Itachi considered the question. His automatic answer was that, no, she wasn't. Then again, this twisted crush that had developed was something Itachi would have to deal with sometime. Why not now? It seemed like a logical idea until he remembered that when Sakura woke up, it would be revealed as a lie rather quickly; Itachi's understanding was that Naruto and Sakura had a strictly brother-sister dynamic.

"No," Itachi finally answered. The guard's eyes shimmered. _Great_, Itachi thought. He was trained in almost every shinobi discipline, but this infatuation crap was getting really old, really fast.

After the short interaction, they both went silent, relaxing into seated positions. The Kumo shinobi was staring at the opposing wall lost in thought, and Itachi was staring at Sakura, waiting for any sign of her waking up. The hours passed like this, with the both of them staring at their chosen targets.

Eventually they greeted their second visitor of the evening, this one lacking the echoes of approaching boots stomping down the cement corridor. This visitor reminded Itachi of the Nara boy; he wore a bored expression, and his hands were buried in his pockets. The man approached slowly, taking his time.

"They stuck you with guard duty, huh?" He said, laughing through his nose. The guard didn't bother getting up; these two knew each other.

"I didn't get 'stuck' with it. I volunteered," the guard replied, sighing at the man's jab, "What are you doing down here anyway, Yaku? Shouldn't you be swindling some poor guy?"

"Well, lucky for you, the Kaikage has given me a nice vacation for being such an upstanding citizen." The man posed with his hands on his kips and head held high. They both smirked in silence for a moment before Yaku cleared his throat. "Actually, my act as an upstanding citizen is why I'm down here. I'm here to relay a message." _Finally, some useful information_, Itachi thought. He had only been awake for a little while, but he still knew nothing of their situation. And even if Sakura knew something, he couldn't be debriefed by an unconscious body.

"A message? For who, me?" Gaku asked.

"It _was _for the lady," he nodded his head in Sakura's direction, "But seeing as she's not in any condition to receive a message, yes, it's for you."

"You know Haruno-san?" Gaku asked. The other man lifted a brow from the Gaku's use of honorifics. Itachi wanted to laugh; the guard must be the only one who doesn't think it's strange.

"No, but I owe her. She willingly let me take to the Raikage and take credit for capturing her." Itachi refocused on their conversation.

Gaku smiled. "She seems like a nice person," he mused. They exchanged a series of weird looks before Yaku shook his head and sighed.

"When she wakes up, tell her this: tomorrow, in the town plaza, they're going to hang her."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>DUN DUN DUUUNNNN. Hope you all enjoyed it! Please read and review :)


	6. Promises

**Author's Note: **Thank you so much to the 100+ followers I've gained thus far! It amazes me how many of you return to this story, and I can't tell you enough how appreciative I am that you do. Thank you, thank you, thank you! As a gift, I've made this an extra long chapter ;) Enjoy!

By the way, I'm working on another fanfic! This time it's for the Harry Potter fandom. I'm still in the plot-refining stage, but the first chapter should be posted in a few weeks along with the next chapter for A Rat's Nest :)

**Disclaimer: **Naruto doth not belong to I.

* * *

><p>~ Chapter 6: Promises ~<p>

"They're going to _what_!?" Gaku said, getting up to yell the words into Yaku's face. The information shocked Itachi, but from a logic standpoint, he was more surprised they hadn't already killed her. The moment they captured him, what did they need Sakura for? In fact, Itachi wondered what, if anything, had kept Sakura alive thus far.

Yaku looked down at his feet. "Yeah. Look, just give her the message and tell her it's from me," he said.

Before Yaku could turn to leave, Gaku grabbed his shoulder. "Wait! You can't – you can't just tell me that and then leave!" he said, his voice straining to remain calm.

Yaku's brow furrowed as he looked at the hand on his shoulder. "I can, and I am," Yaku said. He turned his attention to Itachi and the unconscious Sakura. "Sorry."

"Wait, Yaku! Please," Gaku shouted this time, "_Please_. She can't die."

"Gaku, what the hell is going on? What's with this sad puppy routine? She's a prisoner. She's going to be hung. End of story." Yaku jerked his shoulder away from Gaku's hand and walked away from them, staring at the ground the whole time. Gaku's arm fell limp at his side.

Itachi silently observed the two men. As he processed the scene, Itachi reconsidered the pathetic Kumo guard. From whatever romantic feelings he had, the guard was desperate to keep Sakura alive.

He waited in the silence that hung between them, letting Gaku's mind calm down from the conversation. When Itachi felt the guard had enough time, he cleared his throat.

"So," he said, "You don't want her to die."

Gaku turned to him, shock clear on his features. Whether is was shock at Itachi speaking or from what Itachi said, he wasn't sure. The guard continued to stare but eventually nodded.

"Well, obviously, I don't want Sakura to die either," Itachi said. He left the statement there, hoping it was open-ended enough for the guard to respond.

Within a few moments, the guard took Itachi's bait. "I don't want her to die . . . but I don't want trouble," the guard said, slowly choosing his words.

"You wouldn't get in trouble. All you have to do is make a few things easier for us, and we'll do the rest." The logic was sound – exploiting the man's affection was something he'd do on a normal mission – but the words still felt strange on his tongue. Itachi carried out his mission based off careful statistical analysis and defined probabilities. For the first time since he was an academy student, he was uncertain his plan would succeed; while it was a malleable weakness, the guard's infatuation was an unpredictable variable.

The guard looked down, staring at his shoes as though the curves of the laces spelled his answer. The staring seemed to go on for ten minutes, before he squeezed his eyes shut. His voice was barely a whisper, and Itachi strained to hear him. "Okay."

* * *

><p>As Yaku exited the underground interrogation unit, he was more confused than he'd felt in a long time. It wasn't like he wanted the pink chick to hang, but what choice did he have? The Raikage clearly had some vendetta against her and her blonde friend, and anyone who interfered would hang along side them.<p>

There was supposed to be a party in his honor tonight for capturing the Konoha girl. Instead of heading into town, he began to walk home, not feeling like celebrating. He was all for having a good time and milking any five minutes of fame he could get, but it seemed like a lopsided exchange: her life for a fun night as the town hero.

His walk home was done half-consciously; he knew the road home well enough to let his mind wander. But as soon as he wasn't concentrated on his steps, his mind latched onto the pink girl. He thought of their encounter in the forest.

Yes, she'd killed one of his teammates, but he honestly didn't even know the guy, and he would have done the same if he were in her position. As for his other teammate, the one recuperating in the hospital, she'd been rather merciful. She was right, he'd need a lot of physical therapy, but he would live. And she was cooperative during their travel to the Kumo gates, even healing their injuries.

When the Raikage had ordered the military draft, calling to arms all able-bodied men and women, Yaku had been pissed that it wasn't a paid position. Now he was just pissed at the work, which was a first for him. Yaku was a merchant; he didn't belong to some buddy-buddy team or anything like that. He was just a businessman who happened to know a thing or two about fighting. And, as a man of business, it was almost required of him to ignore the morality of his work. Jobs put bread on the table and ale in his stomach. The day he worried about right and wrong would be the day he was starving and sober, two things Yaku didn't want to be.

But, when he saw the posters, he couldn't help feel a little bitter. "PRISONER HARUNO SAKURA SENTENCED TO HANG! COME SEE THE WHORE GASP HER LAST BREATH, TOMORROW AT THE RAIKAGE PLAZA!"

He'd received a special commendation from the Raikage himself, a hefty reward, and a night of celebration in his name. His bank account was full, his belly even fuller, but he couldn't forget the pink girl. She was by far the most kind-hearted person he'd dealt with in his career, and he repaid her with a death sentence. He was a man without morals, a man who just wanted his check. But, if he was willing to give up a young woman's life for a paycheck, what else would he lower himself to? He was essentially murdering for money now.

He was a businessman, not a hitman.

Before Yaku could change his mind, he turned around. He wasn't going to add murderer to his résumé. His walk turned into a run, and he was out of breath by the time he was outside the interrogation unit.

The shinobi at the entrance was thankfully asleep, probably from all the booze circulating the town. He forced some chakra into the door's lock, and quietly shut the door behind him. There wasn't a secondary guard on duty, so Yaku made it to the basement cells within seconds. He ran down the cement corridor, not caring about noise level at this point.

He stopped himself in front of the cell. No Gaku, no blonde boy, no pink girl. It was empty. _Where the hell did they go!? _Yaku's mind immediately assumed the worst: the blonde guy killed Gaku and escaped with the girl. He ran up stairs he had entered through only moments ago and kicked awake the shinobi guarding the unit entrance. He didn't wake up. Yaku felt the guy's pulse; it was there, but it was slow. Assuming he was just under a genjutsu, Yaku left the guard and started sprinting to the Raikage tower.

Ignoring the ANBU guarding the door, Yaku burst into the Raikage's office. The action seemed justified before he did it, but as he stood in the office, his gasping slowing down along with his heart rate, he reconsidered the action. The Raikage stood behind his desk, and a man in a deep navy cloak sat across from him.

Both men turned to him, and Yaku pulled himself together as best as he could, hoping his merchant charm would ease this situation. "Raikage-sama, I hadn't realized you'd be busy," he started. "I was hoping to have a word with you."

The Raikage smiled at him; not really a comforting image, but Yaku would take a smile over a scowl any day. "Yaku, you should be celebrating! Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow," the Raikage laughed.

"Trust me, I'd be warm with ale and women right about now," he said, returning the Raikage's smile, "But, both can wait until I've talked with you."

The Raikage's smile slipped a little, but he sat down and motioned for Yaku to do the same. Yaku walked to the seats across from the Raikage's desk, but he couldn't help but notice the cloaked man was still there. He turned to the Raikage, clearing his throat and nodding his head in the cloaked man's direction.

"Whatever you have to say, he can hear as well." Yaku was skeptical but decided to not to push the subject.

"Sir," Yaku slowly started. He wanted to make sure his words were the right ones. "Sir, the ANBU guard named Gaku and the two Konoha prisoners are no longer in the interrogation unit. They're gone."

He barely finished his statement when the cloaked figure stood up. The man turned to the Raikage, "Explain. _Now._" At the same time, the Raikage turned to Yaku, shouting, "What do you mean, 'they're gone'?"

The two statements erupted into chaos as the three men yelled at one another, defending and accusing each other. "Explain, Raikage!" "Where did they go!" "I don't know." "You're the one telling us, how can you not know!" "I will not be ignored, Raikage!"

The yelling continued until they were all out of breath, and the situation was no clearer than when Yaku came in. They stood still, breathing heavily. Annoyed, Yaku broke the silence. "I was visiting Gaku in the cells. We may have exchanged a few heated words, but I went home without any incident. But, when I returned to the cell, they weren't there. That's _all _I know."

The information processed in the other minds in the room, and Yaku fell into his chair, exhausted. His propped his head on his hand, sighing into his palm. "I . . . I fear that the ANBU guard may have been killed, and the two Konoha shinobi escaped."

"And why is that? Was there any evidence of a struggle?" the Raikage said.

"Well, no. But Gaku is a Kumo shinobi through-and-through. There's no way he would have conspired with the prisoners. Even if he wanted to, he's aware of what happens to traitors," Yaku explained. Gaku was a bleeding heart, but he wasn't a _stupid _bleeding heart.

The cloaked figure sat beside Yaku. "What was this argument you had?"

Yaku looked at the man in surprise. Of all the facts he presented, the man had focused on the one detail he had reworded for Gaku's sake. "It was nothing. Just a disagreement over some news I brought."

"Well, what news did you bring?" the cloaked man pursued.

Yaku swallowed. The news was public knowledge – it was obnoxious how many posters were put up about it – but Yaku felt an unexplainable unease about saying anything. "I told Gaku about the, uh . . . the prisoner hanging tomorrow," he finally said. It wasn't a complete lie. Yes, he had gone down to originally tell the girl about it, but Gaku ended up receiving the message.

The cloaked man turned from Yaku to the Raikage. "Oh, really? And which prisoner was to be hung?" His voice was flat, but his words put the Raikage on edge. Yaku had never seen anyone do that to the Raikage.

"It was just going to be a publicity stunt – we weren't actually going to hang her," the Raikage said with a nervous laugh. Fascinated by the Raikage's flustered behavior, Yaku sat back and watched the hooded figure skillfully manipulate the massive man.

The hooded man made _hmph _nosie from the back of his throat. "Right, you wouldn't _dare_ do such a thing . . . Let's play a game, shall we?" The man folded his hands in his lap. "Let's pretend you aren't an egocentric, hot-headed idiot, but instead you are a reasonably intelligent man. Now, let's pretend you had hung her. As a _smart _man, what do you think would have happen?" The Raikage said nothing. "Would she just be another dead prisoner of war? Would Konoha not notice her death, would I not notice her death? Did you think I'd forget our deal?" The Raikage remained perfectly still. "Well? Which is it?"

The air in the room was thick. Yaku swore he saw the tiniest clench in the Raikage's jaw. No one moved – they barely breathed.

"Listen carefully. You _will_ find Sakura, and I suggest you find her soon. Do I make myself clear?" The hooded figure stood up. "You have three days."

The man disappeared. Yaku didn't dare look at the Raikage. After the belittling he just suffered, the Raikage would take anything as a challenge. He stared at his hands and awaited orders.

"Find her." Yaku sprinted out the door. Yaku ran for the forest, not sure where to start; he just wanted to get as far away as possible from the Raikage and his temper; he mentally apologized to the poor soul that would receive the blunt of the Raikage's rage.

Yaku stood in the middle of the forest, thinking. It wasn't long before he heard the hurried shouts of ANBU teams passing overhead. The manhunt had begun.

* * *

><p>Itachi readjusted his grip on Sakura, nudging her torso so it leaned against his. They had stopped a moment for Gaku to catch his breath. The Kumo shinobi had done more than loosen their shackles; he'd become their accomplice. Itachi hadn't calculated that development, assuming his sense of self-preservation would prevent him from incriminating himself. Itachi was reluctant to admit his prediction had been wrong.<p>

Other than a few groans and muscle twitches, Sakura had been lifeless in his arms the whole trip. He had wanted to examine her after the shackles had come off, but Itachi wanted needed time to do that – time he didn't have while running from Kumo shinobi. He had heard of cases where med-nin could heal themselves whilst unconscious, but that didn't appear to be happening with Sakura. Many of her wounds were still secreting puss and blood, and many areas of her body were swelling from both injury and infection. It was situations like this that were the reasons that med-nin taught not to be self-sacrificing; if they went down, there was no one to heal them. Itachi made a note to talk to Sakura about her stupidity of wasting the chakra on him instead of healing herself.

"How much farther?" Itachi asked.

"Not much farther," Gaku said, taking a few more deep breaths, "Ready when you are." Itachi began sprinting again.

Gaku had agreed to let them hide at his house, which was apparently on the outer edges of the city. Itachi agreed to this plan; the farther away from the capital, the better off they would be. While he was nervous about entering the home of a Kumo shinobi, the benefits outweighed the risks. Most of all, a safe house would give him an opportunity to deal with Sakura's wounds and general well-being. If he didn't, he was sure she would make the return trip home.

There was nothing he could do for Sakura at that moment, so he instead focused on the shinobi running in front of him – the enigma, more like it. They'd talked a bit on their trip, and he'd collected a few pieces of knowledge. He'd learned that Gaku wasn't a "true" ANBU operative; he explained that the Raikage had promoted all chunin and jonin to ANBU so they could be sent on higher ranked missions. Also, genin were promoted to chunin so they could take care of any domestic issues, while the other ranks were gone fighting the Raikage's war.

Itachi scoffed at the idea. "Higher ranked missions" was just a euphemism for war campaigns, and there was no way a mere genin could handle the responsibility given to chunin. The fact that this was the Raikage's idea worried him the most. Such a reckless and impulsive decision made was an indicator of the Raikage's mental state; he was essentially sending young, inexperienced shinobi to their grave. It was also during this conversation that Gaku told Itachi about the shinobi draft, which made even less sense. The idea of farmers or cooks on a battlefield was more idiotic than promoting unqualified shinobi.

Gaku and Itachi ran for quite some time before they began to hear the Kumo teams. They'd made it farther than they'd expected to, but it wasn't far enough. They found a small stone alcove and hid under it until the voices above them passed by. Itachi still couldn't sense the Kumo shinobi's chakra, one of many things inexplicable things that he'd experienced on this mission. Of all of them, the inability to sense chakra was the most infuriating. Not that he was incapable of fighting without it, of course; it was just annoying.

He turned to Gaku, who appeared to be able to sense the chakra. He face also seemed to be pained; Itachi would bet he recognized some of the chakra signatures.

"When I was unconscious, did you or your men use any jutsu on me?" Itachi asked. The sudden question startled Gaku, who jumped at the sound of his voice.

"Not that I know of, no," Gaku said.

"Then why can't I sense you or your comrades," Itachi pressed. If he wasn't under the effects of a jutsu, there was little else Itachi could think as a cause to this problem.

"I don't…" Gaku's brow furrowed, but the expression was replaced with realization. "Oh. _That_."

Itachi rolled his eyes. "And 'that' is…"

"Oh, well, all Kumo shinobi are required to submit to this required chakra-veiling jutsu."

"Since when?" Itachi asked, incredulous. It was a fairly easy technique, but he'd never heard of a _mandated _chakra-veiling.

"Since the war started. They had us one-by-one meet with this random guy who performed the jutsu," Gaku said. _Random guy? _Itachi thought. Kumo shinobi are known for their their raw strength and offense-type ninjutsu, not their knowledge of sealing techniques. "Random guy" was probably outsourced from another shinobi country.

"You don't remember who it was?" Itachi asked.

Gaku shook his head. "He wore a hooded cloak, so I couldn't get a look at his face or anything. And I couldn't hear his voice either, since he did the jutsu silently. It was definitely a guy, though."

Itachi mulled over this information. A mysterious man was sealing the chakra of all Kumo shinobi. It couldn't be another Kumo shinobi, or they wouldn't be worried about their identity – why hide your contribution to helping your country win a war? And it couldn't be a Kumo ally, or they wouldn't feel their work needed to be hidden.

That left two shinobi nations as possibilities: Konoha and Suna. But Suna was an unlikely option as the country was declared neutral; the entire Suna population _happily_ agreed to the decision, and there was little to no chance of a rogue helping Kumo. That left Konoha, but within Konoha, the impending war was a well-kept secret amongst those who knew, and only the Hokage, the council, and any ANBU involved knew about it.

So, the mystery shinobi must be a male Konoha ANBU, secretly helping the Raikage's war campaign. _Great. Konoha has a rat, _Itachi scoffed. This mission was just getting better and better.

"Can I ask you something?" Gaku said. Itachi nodded, gladly accepting any distraction from how ridiculous this mission was. Gaku cleared his throat and looked away from Itachi. "Can you tell me about her . . . about Sakura?" His voice hesitated on her name, like he wasn't sure he had a right to say it. Itachi sighed; this wasn't a distraction, it was another problem.

Itachi wasn't about the prattle on Sakura; he barely knew her outside what of Sasuke has said about her or what little information he gathered when she treated him. He didn't know anything about her family, what she was like outside of the hospital, or anything like that. Nonetheless, Naruto _would _know all about Sakura, and therefore Itachi had to pretend he did as well.

He shrugged. "What do you want to know?"

Gaku's eyes went wide, probably not expecting Itachi – Naruto – to agree. He mumbled and fidgeted for a few moments before forming a question. "Does she have a family?"

Itachi wasn't entirely aware of Sakura's family situation. He'd heard about her parents' untimely deaths, but he didn't know of any siblings. "No."

"Not at all?"

"Dead parents. No siblings." Itachi panned.

Gaku made an "Oh" sound. He was silent for a few more moments before deciding his next question. A blush preluded this one. "Does she have a, uh, boyfriend? You know, back home or wherever?"

"No." Unless you counted Sasuke's recently revealed crush, but that wasn't part of the question.

"No one?" Gaku smiled.

Itachi rolled his eyes, wondering if every one of his answers needed to be reconfirmed. "She isn't dating anyone. Next question."

"Is that her natural hair color?"

"Yes." What shinobi in their right mind would dye their hair _pink, _of all colors? Itachi frequently wondered why the med-nin never dyed her hair black or brown or some other neutral color. Pink hair makes you a beacon for attackers.

"Really? It's so pretty. I wish it were longer. She would look so beautiful with long hair," Gaku mused, not breaking his gaze from Sakura's hair and face. Itachi looked at her as well, realizing for the first time that Sakura did, indeed, have short hair.

"No, the short hair is better," Itachi said. Gaku hummed in agreement, but still seemed to be imaging Sakura with long hair.

Itachi's brow furrowed. He hadn't realized he had an opinion in the matter, but that didn't make the statement any less true. Practically, long hair would get in the way of shinobi arts, especially if you were a med-nin. And long hair didn't suit Sakura; it would have made her seem weak and feminine, when she was the quite opposite. Yes, short hair better suited her.

From that point, questions about Sakura turned into an annoying trivia game – and Itachi wasn't even getting paid for his answers. The questions eventually dwindled; Itachi had basically recited Sakura's life story, and there was little else to tell. Gaku also seemed to realize this, taking more and more time to think of questions.

Gaku had one more question, but he seemed to be struggling with it. "I know you probably can't answer – shinobi code or whatever – but I can't help but wonder, you know?" Gaku sighed, "Why are you guys here? Why is _she _here?"

"You know why we're here."

"No, I know – what I meant was, why her? Why not someone else?" Gaku turned his gaze away from Sakura

Before Itachi could think about the question, Sakura started convulsing, drawing both their eyes to her seizing form.

They both rushed to her side, and without really thinking, Itachi swatted Gaku's hands away. "I've got it. Go get water." Gaku frowned but followed Itachi's orders nonetheless. With Gaku gone, Itachi took Sakura into his arms, holding up her torso so she wouldn't choke. Her seizing slowed to a stop, but her muscles – especially the bruising muscles – would twitch with irregular spasms.

Itachi knew Gaku would be gone finding water for a long time, so he took advantage of the relative privacy to examine her wounds. When they got out of the prison, Itachi hadn't thought to grab her torn clothes; other than her pants, the rest of Sakura's body was hastily covered in bandages. The bandages were there more for modesty than healing purposes, and her current wounds really needed to be bandaged; being exposed to the elements was only worsening their condition. And since it looked like they'd be camping here for the night with the manhunt still underway, this was a good time as any to take care of Sakura.

Itachi could just imagine his mother yelling about the purity of a woman and its need to be protected. Unfortunately for Mikoto, wounds took precedence over modesty. Besides, Naruto was like a brother to Sakura, so she probably wouldn't be angry about being exposed in front of him. Probably.

Before he could treat anything, he would need to the water Gaku was retrieving to wash the bandages and wounds. Itachi sighed. That meant he'd have to expose her in front of both himself _and _Gaku. He'd have to set strict rules with the Kumo shinobi if he was going to treat Sakura in front of the man.

As Itachi finished his thought, the man in question appeared with a pouch of water. Gaku put the pouch next to Itachi, looking over his shoulder to peak at Sakura. Itachi cleared his throat, causing Gaku to flinch and back up. "Thank you for the water," Itachi started, "Where did you find it?"

"There's a river not too far from here," Gaku said, pointing in the direction of the river. Itachi looked at the pouch of water; it wouldn't be enough.

"Listen to me carefully, Gaku: I'm going to take Sakura to the river to wash and treat her wounds. You will stay here and guard our supplies. You will _not _follow us to the river, and you will _not _try to peek. Do I make myself clear?" Itachi slowly said, "Do I have your word, Gaku?"

Gaku nodded, walking over to their bags to sit down. Itachi tossed the water pouch over to Gaku, "Keep the water for yourself. We'll refill it before we start traveling again." Gaku nodded and mumbled a thank you.

Carefully avoiding her wounds, Itachi scooped Sakura off the ground and headed to the river Gaku pointed to. Just as Gaku said, the river was close to their camp, and it didn't take more than a minute to get there.

The river had a gentle current, and the water was clear. At this latitude, the water would be cold, but that was hardly something to worry about.

Itachi rest Sakura against the trunk of a tree, considering his next move. Sakura's wounds needed more than a quick wipe; she needed to soak in the water, drawing all the puss and bacteria out of the wounds. And after their imprisonment and travel, Kami knew they both smelled, too.

Still feeling weird about undressing Sakura, Itachi started with himself. He peeled off his clothes, taking off everything expect his boxers; Naruto might feel confortable nude in front of Sakura, but Itachi definitely did not. It wasn't medically necessary for him o be completely nude, and he wanted to retain some modicum of decency. He was about bathe with a naked woman, after all. It was the gentlemanly thing to do.

He took off Sakura clothes much slower than he had taken his own off. Some of her wounds had crusted and attached to the fabric, and they reopened as the clothes were peeled away. Sakura's unconscious form groaned. Itachi ignored the noise, assuming it was involuntary, and continued undressing her. He was about to take her pants off when her eyes fluttered opened; apparently the pain of reopening wounds was enough to force her conscious again.

"Fuck, that hurts," she moaned. Her eyes were looking everywhere, struggling to focus. "Ugh . . . N-Naruto?" She mumbled.

Itachi quickly reverted to his Naruto persona, making sure he was smiling. "Hey, Sakura-chan! Gave me quite a scare there."

"Where . . . Where are we?" She asked, gaining more clarity, "What happened to the prison?"

Itachi internally sighed with relief; mission debriefing was familiar territory to him, and he was glad Sakura's first thoughts were about the mission's status.

"The Raikage was planning to hang you tomorrow morning, so I convinced Gaku assist our escape. It's been at least four hours since then, and the Raikage has finally sent out teams to recapture us." Itachi explained, helping Sakura sit up against a tree trunk while he spoke. "We were heading to Gaku's home, planning to stow away until the teams gave up, but we didn't make it in time. We set up camp in a fairly concealed rock alcove in the forest. It should make do until morning."

Sakura nodded between grimaces. "Gaku helped us escape?" Her voice was breathless from the pain. Itachi nodded. "So . . . why are you undressed?" She tried to laugh, but it just ended up as a hiss of pain.

Itachi gave her a small smile. "You're wounds are festering, Sakura-chan. I was going to bring you into the river to wash them," He said, pointing to the river behind him. "I don't suppose you can heal yourself now that you're awake?"

Sakura leaned away from the tree, looking at herself and her injuries. "No, I can't. The river is a good idea." She motioned for his help, and he pulled her off the ground to a standing position. While he held her steady, she unraveled the chest bandages, piling them on the ground. She then looped her fingers under her pant's waistband. Itachi focused his eyes above her head, but his gaze snapped back to her when she gasped. She seemed to be having problems with her pants.

"Fuck . . . my back . . . I can't bend it," she said through gritted teeth. Itachi was reluctant to acknowledge the unspoken request: could he help her take her pants off. He thought he'd avoided the whole undressing ordeal when she's woken up, but apparently Itachi had one more reason to curse her injuries.

_Remember, you're Naruto_, Itachi chided himself, _Naruto wouldn't hesitate to help Sakura_. He mumbled "of course" as he put her hands on his shoulder so that his own hands were free. He looped his fingers under the waistband. _You are Naruto_. He tugged to fabric down, pausing only when her breath hitched. When the pants pooled at her feet, her lifted one leg and then the other, tossing it into the pile of discarded bandages. All the while, Itachi kept his mind blank and thoughtless. He was not a strange man undressing a woman he barely knew. He was a brother helping his sister treat her wounds.

"Can you walk?" Itachi asked. Sakura took a tentative step, knees buckling almost immediately. Clearing his throat, he held lowered himself and opened his arms. "Come on, Sakura-chan. I'll carry you into the river." Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, clutching with what little strengths she had. Resting a hand under her knees and one on her back, he leaned her against his torso, as he had done only moments earlier when he carried her here.

_You are Naruto_, he thought more forcefully when she held him closer, her bare chest pressed against his. Perhaps a little to hastily, Itachi walked into the river. It was freezing. It was really fucking freezing.

Itachi was a man of restraint and control. His control over his body and mind was absolute – he could control his heart rate at will, if he wanted to. Under normal circumstances, a naked woman was nothing more than a body. As long as he was in control, a naked woman was no more tempting than a naked corpse. He was a shinobi. Bodies were nothing more tissue and blood to him – nothing more than targets for his kunai.

But in this infernal country, with its infernal cold and this infernal river and the infernal circumstance, he was losing it. He was cold. He was tired. He was sick of being Naruto. He was sick of this mission. He wanted to go home, where it wasn't fucking freezing and he wasn't impersonating Naruto and he didn't have to hold Sakura's warm, naked body. _Damn it all to hell. _Why didn't they just send Sasuke on this mission? Kami knows he'd love to be Itachi's position right now.

Sakura needed to be treated, and he had to do it before he lost it and killed every last Kumo shinobi.

Itachi charged into the water, ignoring her gasp from the water's temperature. Walking until the water was up to his chest, he lowered Sakura into the water, letting the water's buoyancy carry her weight. She was shivering, but her pained expression was eased away from the water's weightless support.

It didn't take long for the crusted blood and puss to soften and fall away from her skin. The water's current slid against the wounds, drawing out discolored blood that had been festering while Sakura had been unconscious. He watched, fascinated, as Sakura used to hands spread cuts open to let the water clean more deeply. Streams of yellows, reds, and browns stemmed from her, drawn downstream.

"You know, you should be bathing, too," Sakura laughed. Her face was much smoother, no longer tight and strained. He looked down at his arms and how they contrasted against her skin. Now that she was clean, his dirty arms were noticeably darker. Her looked back at her to she her bubbling smile, which he gladly returned. "Here," she said, reaching for his shoulders, "I'll hold onto you, that way you can wash up, okay?" Itachi nodded. He liked the idea of finally bathing, despite the bath being a river of ice.

Itachi helped Sakura onto his back so she could securely wrap her arms and legs around him. The cold water was barely enough to distract him from the returning feeling of Sakura pressed against him. He didn't even want to think about _what_ was being pressed against him. But, with his arms now free of naked women, Itachi submerged himself further into the icy water. The water may have been cold, but it rejuvenated his dry, caked skin, and with the help of his hands, the current cleaned him of the dirt and sweat he'd accumulated in the prison and forest.

After feeling he'd indulged enough, he rose out of the water, supporting Sakura on his back while he walked back to their clothes. He lowered her to the forest floor, filling instead with their dirty clothes. "We can't have your wounds wrapped in dirty bandages, and I might as well clean our clothes while I'm at it," he explained. Itachi didn't wait for a response and trotted back to the river, rinsing the bandages and clothes. While he washed them, he realized her lack of clothing would be a problem in this cold weather; the last thing they needed was her being injured _and _sick. That would be a nightmare.

It was a trivial thing, but Itachi wished he could produce a katon jutsu to dry their clothes. Because of the shackles, they would have to wait for the clothes to drip dry, which would take forever in this cold climate. He could ask Gaku to come and dry them, but that involved the possibility of Gaku seeing Sakura naked, which wouldn't be unacceptable.

Itachi trotted back to where Sakura was, hanging their clothes on the branches nearby. She was shivering against the tree, hugging her knees. Naruto or not – nudity or not – he couldn't let a teammate freeze on the forest floor. Without even asking, he scooped Sakura off the ground. She squeaked, mumbling incoherent protests as he sat back down with her facing forward in his lap. Their combined body heat would be enough to warm them until the clothes were dry. Sakura seemed to get the idea and eventually leaned back against him, sighing.

* * *

><p>Sakura relaxed against Naruto's chest. She didn't want to just passively wait here, but sitting with Naruto really was the best option right now. The warmth radiating form him was too good to pass up and shushed any qualms she had.<p>

Accepting this new position, she readjusted herself in his lap, getting cozy for what looked like the long haul. She felt Naruto's breath get deeper and his heart rate slow. After all he'd done, he deserved some sleep. His wispy breath became white noise, and it didn't take long for Sakura's worn body to be tempted. Her eyes were lulled shut, and she fell asleep in seconds.

The hours eased into the morning daylight, and they both looked better, their systems reigniting from rest. Sakura was the first to wake, surprised by how much heat they had generated together. The heat wasn't uncomfortable, though, and Sakura nuzzled closer to Naruto. This mission was a mess, but the instant he'd entered it, Sakura had felt ten times better. He was warm, caring, and the best medicine she could think of for their situation. Sure, he was probably breaking countless rules by being here, but his smile alone was guarantee enough that all would be well.

She reached behind her, her hands searching for his. His body twitched awake, breath hitching. "Hm?" he murmured. She could feel his voice reverberate into her back, low and tired.

"Give me your hands," Sakura said. He obliged, giving his hands over to hers, and she pulled them around her torso. She couldn't help but giggled when his arms went stiff after grazing her chest, and her laugh only made him stiffen more. Over the near decade they'd known each other, they'd seen each other naked countless times – treating him, bathing on missions, Naruto's propensity to randomly strip – he was still modest when she was nude in front of him. She bet that if she turned around she would see a red-faced Naruto.

The thought spurred something in her, and she turned her head enough for her cheek to rest against his chest. "Naruto?"

"Yes, Sakura-chan?" he said, voice tense; his body hadn't relaxed an inch.

She tried to encourage him to relax, rubbing her hands up and down his arms. She curled her legs so she was a ball in his lap, keeping his arms around her. "I'm glad you're here, Naruto."

She felt his body still at her words as the sound of the harsh wind washed between them. Naruto didn't respond right away. His body responded before his words, and his arms were more confident as they pulled her closer. "Me too, Sakura-chan," he said. His voice was so quiet that Sakura barely heard it over the wind. She wanted to keep him talking; she enjoyed the way his voice echoed into her chest.

"Naruto? Why did you come to Kumo?" She asked, rubbing her thumb in circles on his forearm. She didn't want to ruin this moment of peace, but they were on a mission and no amount of cuddling would change that.

Naruto picked up on the tone shift and cleared his throat. "We received a letter from you."

"But I didn't send–" She half-turned to look at him, but his arms prevented her from moving freely.

"We know," he adjusted his hold, giving her a reassuring squeeze before he continued. "It was a fake letter. It asked that Nar – I come to Kumo to sign a treaty."

Sakura frowned. When the Raikage imprisoned her, he'd effectively refused to cooperate with Konoha. _Why would the Raikage offer a treaty? It doesn't make sense . . . Oh! _Sakura's thoughts were halted by the memory of what the Raikage told her moments before she was knocked out: he wanted Naruto dead.

"It was a trap," she mumbled, half aware she'd said anything. The realization, though, was enough to make Sakura wrench herself free from their entangled arms. "Why did you come, Naruto? He wants you dead!" She wanted to bash in his head for being so stupid! "What if we hadn't escaped that prison, Naruto? He could have killed you! Why on earth would you just waltz into a trap like that?" She didn't care that she was yelling now; he may be the future Hokage, but Naruto needed to be yelled at every once in a while.

She turned completely around to face him, to make sure he felt her anger and realized how stupid he was being. When she turned around, though, his expression wasn't at all what he expected. At this point, Naruto would normally be begging for mercy from her wrath, or at the very least cowering in a corner. The Naruto in front of her then was completely stoic, unfazed by her anger. Her resolve was only strengthened by the need to teach Naruto this lesson. "Why, Naruto? Why would you do something so _stupid_! Ugh!"

She tore herself away from him, practically jumping out of his lap. She refused to let herself miss his warm when the freezing northern air sent shivers up her naked spine. "You're the Kyuubi's container and the future leader of Konoha – you can't just prance off to an enemy nation whenever you fee like it!" The forest floor crinkled as Naruto also stood up. She walked over to where their clothes hung, yanking them off the branch. "I know we're close, but our friendship isn't worth losing you. Your life is worth much more than mine–"

Naruto grabbed her by the arm and pulled it, forcing her to face him. Her rant died in her throat, replaced by heavy, angry breathes as her heart rate refused to calm down. She wanted to say more, to beat into him that she was just a single shinobi, a solder whose purpose was to be sacrificed to protect people like him. Her life for his – that's the way it always was and will be.

"Sakura, don't you dare think you aren't important," Naruto said, punctuating each word and increasing the pressure of his grip. Her arm was starting to hurt, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in pain; Naruto wasn't going to win this argument. She tried to twist her arm free, but Naruto's grip held stronger.

* * *

><p>Itachi hadn't expected her anger. He had fully expected her to trust Naruto's decision, both as her friend and future Hokage. Sakura wasn't wrong; if the real Naruto were in front of her, he'd join her in chastising the blonde's actions. But, her anger left him unprepared; he didn't know how Naruto acted under such criticism. Would he fight back and counter her argument? Or would he wilt under the pressure? He didn't want to take a chance by wrongly guessing Naruto's reaction, so he instead reacted how he would – how Itachi would. Itachi was regularly yelled at, whether it was his father or his teammates; people seemed to always be angry with him. His face closed itself, as it always did when facing the outward emotions of others.<p>

But his mask only held for so long. Everything she had said he agreed with, until she mentioned her life. Itachi didn't know much about Sakura or her sense of self-importance. But when she claimed to be just another solider, just another death to safe someone proclaimed to be "more important" – that hit him hard and broke his mask.

His hand whipped out to grab her, so stop whatever thought was ripping through her. "Sakura, don't you dare think you aren't important."

His mask may have broken, but nearly a decade of missions allowed him to hold a semblance of Naruto's personality. He wanted to tell Sakura that she was wrong, that they weren't just solders waiting to die at someone's command. They were humans, and they were important. He wanted to tell her all these things, but Naruto had to say them, so he expressed himself as best as Naruto would allow him.

Realizing a little late how hard he was gripping he, he released her arm. She stood there, silent. Itachi wasn't sure if that mean he'd reacted right as Naruto, or if Naruto's outburst shocked her. In that moment, he didn't care about whether or not he was Naruto or Itachi, he just cared about setting Sakura straight.

"I wouldn't be here if you weren't important. You're my best friend, and when the time comes, you'll probably be my advisor. I need you just as much as Konoha needs me." He stumbled over the words at first, but his voice became more confident as he spoke. He knew what he was saying was true, but he had said something like this to anyone. Maybe Sasuke, when he was younger and idolized Itachi, but that was it.

"Naruto, you don't _need _me," she said with a small smile. Itachi didn't know why she was smiling; nothing he'd said should have garnered such a response.

"Yes, Sakura, I–"

"No." Her eyes softened while she kept smiling. "You see, if I die–"

"You're not going to–" He walked toward her, hoping his proximity would stop her if his words didn't.

"Stop!" she yelled, holding her hand up to stop his progression toward her. "If I die – No . . . _when _I die, you will be able to live without me. Your life does not require mine. You'll be sad, I'm sure, but you don't need me to continue living. My existence is optional."

"Sakura . . . that's not true. You know that's not true!" He wanted to shake her, to rip whatever had caused such things to root themselves in her mind. He had no idea that Haruno Sakura thought this way. She always seemed like a strong-willed and caring woman who was a fiercely loyal when protecting her people. She was like a mother bear protecting her cubs, tearing to shreds those that threatened their way of life. He didn't know what or who had somehow ingrained such a philosophy in the bright, pink-haired shinobi, but it wasn't healthy. Shinobi or not, no one could carry on while believing such things.

"Konoha needs you, Naruto, not me. Everything I know can be taught to others, so that if I die, they can just train someone new to fill my place." She turned away from him again, fidgeting with the bandages she'd pulled off the branch. Her head hung low as she stared at the ground below her; it seemed to be the only thing holding her up now. "I'm replaceable, Naruto."

"No!" He practically screamed. He hadn't planned on saying that or saying it so loud, and his voice was enough to shock them both into silence. He recovered from his own shock quickly, but that didn't lessen the anger he felt. Sakura was not replaceable. Itachi didn't understand why, but he _needed _her to understand that. He needed to bring her back to Konoha safe, and he needed her to understand that she was worth being saved from Kumo. If she didn't, Itachi knew she would do something stupid to save his life. Sasuke, Naruto . . . no one would forgive Itachi for being the one who got Konoha's cherry blossom killed.

Ignoring her earlier protest, Itachi walked to where she stood. He stood just a few inches from her, but despite his proximity, she refused to look at him. If she refused going to look at him, he would make her.

Trailing his hand down her arm, he took the bandages from her hand. Her arm flinched at the initial contact, but it wasn't enough to make her look up at him. Unraveling the long strip of canvas cloth, he knelt next to her thigh. He hesitated only for moment before he resting his hand against her thigh, his thumb grazing the three, tiny holes marring the soft skin. He could feel and hear her gasp at the touch. He wanted to smile, but he instead focused on the task at hand: wrapping her wounds.

Strip by strip, he encircled her the wounded parts of her in the bandages. There was only one wound left, and it her ribs. He stood at his full height to meet her eyes for the first time since their argument had begun. Her eyes were watery with sadness and confusion. "You shouldn't have come here, Naruto." Her voice was no more than a whisper, but it was enough to make Itachi smile.

He didn't really know what he was doing, but it seemed to be working. Sure, she wasn't smiling or laughing, but her whispering voice was a hundred times better than her shouting one.

When he was finished wrapping her broken ribs, he kept his palms on her ribcage. His fingers were a hair's breath away from the porcelain skin of her breast. His thumb swung up, skimming the curve of her breast. He felt her chest expanding and contracting faster, and he knew that if he was going to say or do anything, this would be the moment. Itachi was sure that hundreds of miles away, Naruto was cursing Itachi to every hell there was for doing this, but Itachi knew it was what the mission and Sakura needed.

"Sakura, you could never be replaced. If you died, I wouldn't know what to do with myself . . . I – I would never be the same without you," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers. He didn't know where the words came from – he wasn't a romantic man, by any means – but he thanked whatever god put them in his mouth. He believed his own words, and as Sakura's eyes met his, he knew she believed them too.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> *Dies from carpal tunnel* SO. MANY. WORDS. Well, I hope that the 8,000+ words were enough to make up for how long it took to write this. And finally some ItaSaku action! Err, well . . . kind of ItaSaku . . . (It's the thought that counts?) At least I didn't leave a huge cliffhanger like last time :P Anyway, hoped you guys enjoyed it!

Please Read and Review! :D


	7. Unraveling

**Author's Note: **They really don't tell you how much your junior year of college is going to suck. There needs to be a _way _bigger warning. I'm in a constant state of exhaustion *weeps* Anyway, I wanted to post this when I had finished the first chapter of my Harry Potter fanfic, but it needs more planning :/ As I've learned from writing A Rat's Nest, when you don't have everything planned, it takes much longer to write. I've learned my lesson, so I'm going to take my time planning before I start posting chapters.

[EDIT] It's come to my attention that I did a bit of name jumbling during this chapter :P I went back and fixed them, but let me know if you guys find anymore errors!

**Disclaimer: **I in no way own Naruto, so please don't sue me.

* * *

><p>~ Chapter 7: Unraveling ~<p>

Itachi kept his forehead against Sakura's, waiting for her to react. He'd said the words, but it didn't matter unless she said them too; Itachi's plan didn't work if only Naruto was in love. The physical response was there; from the few inches between them, he could see her eyes widen and hear her breath catch. _Say something, Sakura, _Itachi pleaded in his mind, _I just said I - Naruto loves you, and you're just going to stand there?_

She didn't give him a verbal response, but she bit her lip and smiled at him. Itachi felt safe to assume that meant "yes."

They finished dressing in silence, and Itachi picked Sakura up, walking the two of them back to where Gaku was waiting.

As they got farther from the river and closer to their camp, the sound of arguing got louder and louder. Itachi picked up the pace to a run, rushing past trees until he was in front of the rock cove.

Gaku was being held against a tree by his shirt collar, being yelled at by another Kumo shinobi. Itachi vaguely recognized him as the man who had visited the cells only moments before their escape. Itachi held Sakura closer, adjusting to a more secure grip.

"Do you _want_ to die, you fucking idiot?!" The nameless Kumo shinobi shouted.

"I didn't think–" Gaku tried to defend himself.

"Exactly! You didn't think! You _never _think!" The shinobi shoved Gaku into the tree trunk harder. Itachi stepped forward to intervene, but before he could speak, Sakura stopped him.

"Yaku?" Sakura's voice cut through the two men's shouts. The two Kumo men snapped their heads towards her voice, suddenly realizing their conversation had an audience.

Gaku was released from the man's hold. The mystery shinobi turned to Sakura and Itachi, "Hey, pinky."

Sakura nudged Itachi to put her down. Itachi put her on her feet, stabilizing her against a tree. "What are you doing here, Yaku?" Sakura said, gripping the tree trunk for support.

"How do you know him?" Gaku asked in a quiet voice. Itachi was just about to ask the very same question. From their conversation in the interrogation unit, Itachi had deducted that the man and Sakura had come into contact outside Kumo, but he had no further information as to how they were acquainted.

Sakura waved off Gaku's question, much to Itachi's disappointment. "What's going on Yaku?" Sakura tried asking again. Yaku sighed, shifting the weight on his feet.

"We can talk later," Yaku picked up his bag, "The ANBU teams have a scent, so the first order of business is losing them."

Itachi wasn't entirely surprised they had ANBU teams tailing them, but the immediacy of their deployment was a surprise; it had only been a few hours since their escape. The Kumo ANBU had forgotten the interrogation unit in favor of celebrating national pride; he assumed they'd have a few days before two escaped Konoha prisoners would be noticed.

Although this man had warned them of the plan to hang Sakura and had just now warned them about the ANBU, Itachi wasn't about to let this man lead them anywhere. Gaku had a soft heart, perfect for manipulation. This man, Yaku, seemed to actually have a modicum of intelligence.

Despite Itachi's reluctance, Sakura seemed to have no problem trusting the man's orders. She was already hobbling over to where their things were piled, throwing a bag over her shoulder. When she looked as though she were going to fall, Gaku rushed to her side. Itachi's eyes narrowed at their proximity. Oblivious to Itachi's contempt for Gaku, Sakura gladly accepted Gaku's help. "Where are we headed?" Sakura said.

"Back to Konoha," Itachi immediately replied. He needed to get Sakura and himself as far away as possible from Kumo. They had escaped the prison, and now it was time to go home. As he looked at the two Kumo men, however, he realized there would be opposition to this plan.

Yaku was sighing, and Gaku was slowly shaking his head. "You shouldn't," Gaku said, "You should find a safe house here, wait out the manhunt, and go home when things have quieted down."

Before Itachi could argue with Gaku, Yaku spoke up. "I hate to say it, but he's right. If you start running for the border now, you won't make it. The farther from the city you go, the less shelter there is. After a certain point it's just pine forests, and I think we both know how little protection trees are against an ANBUmanhunt_._"

Itachi wanted to strangle the Kumo shinobi. They were right, but it didn't lessen Itachi's need to violently kill both of them. "Fine," Itachi said, annoyed. He strode up to Sakura, yanked her out of Gaku's arms, and scooped her into his own arms. Sakura squeaked in protest, mumbling something about being strong enough to walk on her own. Itachi completely ignored the comments, grunting at the two Kumo men to start running.

* * *

><p>Sakura didn't know why Naruto was being so rough with her. It wasn't like him to be so short with people, especially when it came to friends. She felt well enough to try and walk on her own, but Naruto had completely ignored her. His grip was hurting her, but she didn't think now was the time to complain. She looped her arms around Naruto's neck, hoping he would loosen his grip if he felt her holding onto him. No such luck.<p>

"Naruto?" Sakura said tentatively, trying to draw his attention. "Naruto, what's wrong?" Her voice wasn't getting through at all.

The rest of the trip was completely silent until they were finally in front of a modest brick home shrouded by pine trees. "Home, sweet home," Gaku mumbled.

The tension between the three men was inexplicably thick. Sakura had no idea what had caused them to be so terse with one another, but the atmosphere was _not _going to work if they were to cooperate. "So, uh, this is your home?" Sakura asked. She knew small talk wasn't going to make everyone happy again, but at least it would break the silence.

She had expected Gaku to answer, but instead it was Yaku. "Yup. Welcome to our humble abode."

Yaku and Gaku lived together? "Are you and Gaku roommates or something?" Sakura guessed. Her reply was two chuckling men. She wasn't sure what was funny, but the laughing was definitely an improvement.

"I wish we were just roommates," Yaku laughed, "We're brothers." Sakura wasn't the only one surprised by the news; she felt Naruto's arms twitch. "Can't you tell from our names?" Yaku continued. Now it was Sakura's turn to giggle. She had thought the similarity was weird, but she wrote off the coincidence as perhaps her ignorance of Kumo naming customs. She did, after all, know next to nothing about the snowy country.

"Our mother had a . . . weird sense of humor," Gaku added, grinning.

"I'm sure your mother is very nice," Sakura said, returning Gaku's smile. She turned to Naruto, expecting him to contribute to the conversation, or at the very least make a small comment. He seemed to sense her gaze, but as he turned towards her, she saw nothing but a scowl. What reason did Naruto have to wear such an expression? Surely scowling at the two Kumo men was an overreaction.

Naruto turned away from her, adjusting his grip again. "Open the door." Gaku and Yaku both gave Naruto curt nods, walking towards the thick wooden door.

Sakura would have liked to explore the house more, but Naruto rushed past every room until finally entering a bedroom. Sakura thought that was quite rude of Naruto; they hadn't even asked if they could use the room. Before she could say anything, Naruto abruptly tossed her onto the bed. "Naruto, wha–"

"We have to leave this place," Naruto said, pacing in front of the bed.

Sakura pushed herself onto her elbows, "They're right, you know. We wouldn't last a day against the manhunt."

"We could. It'd be difficult, but not impossible," Naruto replied, still pacing.

"Naruto, listen to yourself! We haven't had a moment to rest since either of us entered this frozen country. I'm injured, you're exhausted, we have no supplies – how on earth would we make it to Konoha?"

Naruto halted his pacing. "He's in love with you."

"What?" Now Sakura was completely lost. She couldn't follow Naruto's logic at all, and it made her worry. Perhaps the mission was finally taking its toll on Naruto's psyche.

"Gaku. He's in love with you." Naruto's voice was bitter and hard.

"_So what_?" Sakura said slowly, punctuating the words. She shook her head; why were they talking about this?

"And they're brothers, of all things. We can't stay here. We need to go." Was Naruto even listening to her? He lunged for their bags, riffling through them with frantic hands. "We'll take what we need from their house, then we'll sneak away after nightfall."

Naruto was too busy to notice Sakura prying herself off the bed, using any part of her that didn't hurt as leverage. She clutched the bedpost, watching Naruto's face rapidly change emotions as he sorted through their supplies.

She'd had enough. They hadn't been in this house for more than five minutes, and she was already losing her mind. She was starting to miss their time in the cell, when Naruto was unconscious and peaceful. Now, all she wanted to do was hit him. Actually, if Sakura had the strength, Naruto would have been hit ages ago.

"_Uzumaki Naruto, you listen to me right now!" _Sakura braced herself against the bedpost as anger and frustration threatened to overcome her. "I am _not _some mindless sidekick you can boss around. I am your _partner_. And as such, we do things like talk and collaborate_. _You will stop this stupid fussing right now, or so help me, I will put you in a coma and drag your unconscious ass back to Konoha! _Do you understand me?_"

Naruto stopped messing with their bags and stood at the end of the bed, motionless and in shock. The only sound in the room was Sakura's labored breathing as she struggled to calm down.

She had never felt so ignored and trivialized before. She may be injured, but she was a strong, capable kunoichi, whose abilities were deserving of respect. Worst of all, she would have never expected Naruto to make her feel such a way. Even in their genin days, Naruto had been nothing but encouraging as Sakura struggled to face simple adversities during missions. He had been her inspiration to be not just a good shinobi, but to seek Tsunade as a mentor and to excel at medical ninjutsu.

She didn't recognize the Naruto before her now. This Naruto was condescending, treating her more like a fragile flower than the powerhouse she really was. He may have fooled her earlier, with his kind words and gentle help, but now she could see she had misinterpreted his actions.

Sakura let go of the bedpost and hobbled out of the bedroom. She underestimated her wounds, only making it halfway down the hallway before she slid to the floor. Thankfully, it was Gaku's hand she felt help her up and not Naruto's. She looked up at Gaku, hoping she didn't look too pitiful. But it wasn't pity she saw in Gaku's eyes; she saw understanding and sadness.

He lifted her off the floor, putting an arm around her waist. "Let's get you something to eat, hm?" Gaku said with a soft smile. She returned the smile, placing an arm around his shoulder as Gaku led them towards the kitchen.

* * *

><p>After recovering from the initial shock from Sakura's outburst, Itachi's only reaction was to hurl their bags at the wall.<p>

How could Sakura not see the danger they were in? They were in a foreign country, taking refuge in a foreign home, relying on two foreign men. These things hadn't been tested for neither their safety nor trustworthiness, and yet, it had only taken a matter of moments for Sakura to accept them. And then she had the gall to lecture him! Yes, yell at the only person who cares about your safety – that seems like a _great _idea.

Itachi was beyond seething, but he didn't have time to cool down. His rational mind knew that he needed Sakura's cooperation to get out of this infernal country; an angry Sakura was not a cooperative Sakura.

Itachi heard Gaku in the hallway with Sakura, mumbling something about food. His stomach growled. When was the last time he'd eaten a real meal? Perhaps some decent food would help Sakura as well; no doubt hunger was worsening both their tempers.

He stayed in the bedroom for a few moments, picking up the bag he threw and organizing its contents.

When Itachi felt he'd let Sakura cool off enough, he lazily walked to the kitchen. He made sure to walk loudly, hoping if they heard him coming, they'd have time to adjust to the idea of him being in their company. That was the theory, anyway.

Yaku and Sakura were seated casually at a small dining table, while Gaku tended to a steaming pot with a ladle. He noted that Sakura was no longer dressed in her previous outfit, consisting of a few strategically wrapped bandages. She was now in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, both obviously meant for a male twice her size. Her newly clothed figure drew Itachi's attention to his own state of undress.

Itachi cleared his throat, getting the attention of Yaku. He was pleased to see a neutral expression on the man. Apparently Sakura's opinions of "Naruto" hadn't affected their demeanor toward him.

Itachi nodded his head toward Sakura and her borrowed outfit, "Any chance I could also get some clothes?"

Yaku chuckled softly. "Sure, I'll grab some for you. In the meantime, come and sit. The food is almost ready."

Itachi nodded his head in thanks. As Yaku left the room, though, Itachi realized he probably looked strange standing in the doorway when there were three open seats at the table. He could choose one of the seats next to Sakura, an option that risked offending Sakura if she wasn't calm yet. But, sitting across from her would likely increase her anger, interpreting the choice as him avoiding her.

"Are you gonna sit, or what?" Sakura said, breaking his train of thought. Noticing the edge in her voice, Itachi thought that sitting was an all-together bad choice, and perhaps standing was his safest option.

"Yaku will be back soon with the clothes, so . . ." Itachi voice trailed off, not really knowing where he was going with the excuse. Itachi's charade was stuck in limbo. The "normal" Itachi would have just glared at her until she shut up, and the "normal" Naruto would have profusely apologized for being awkward and immediately sat down like a good dog would. He hadn't given up on being Naruto, but he knew he was slipping. Was it even worth the effort at this point? He was stuck with the henge, but that didn't mean he had to keep being Naruto. Maybe it was time to tell Sakura the truth.

"Hey, Sakura . . ." Itachi started, but before he could finish, Yaku came back.

"Here you go!" Yaku pressed a bundle of clothes into Itachi's hands, "It's not much, but they'll at least be better than what you're wearing now." Itachi examined the rolled bundle, finding a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants identical to the ones Sakura had borrowed. Naruto would have joked about their matching outfits, but Itachi didn't think the humor would be appreciated. He didn't really have the energy to, anyway.

Itachi excused himself to change, heading back into the bedroom. He had forgotten just how much clothing had been lost during the course of their travel. Between his imprisonment and bandaging Sakura's wounds, he only had his shorts left.. His body temperature improved the moment he took off the half-wet cloth. He slipped on the t-shirt and sweatpants, reveling in their plush warmth. He walked back to the kitchen in better spirits.

When he reentered the kitchen, he saw that the Kumo shinobi had made the decision for him about where to sit. Yaku sat across from Sakura, while Gaku sat to her left. Itachi settled into the remaining chair to her right, acknowledging everyone with a short nod.

They took turns handing their bowls to Gaku so he could ladle stew from the steaming pot in the center of the table. The four shinobi mumbled "itadakimasu" and ate the stew with quiet appreciation. Itachi's body temperature had returned to normal with the dry clothes, but the stew created a hot pool in his stomach, radiating out to his limbs. Itachi couldn't remember the last time he felt so content.

The stew seemed to have the same effect on Sakura. Itachi hadn't noticed the pallor of her face until he saw her cheeks return to a healthy pink glow. He couldn't help but smile when Sakura closed her eyes, clearly holding back a verbal reaction to the stew. He watched in fascination as she took another bite and slowly pulled the spoon out of her mouth, tightly wrapping her lips around the metal. The spoon exited with a wet pop, and Itachi was surprised by how hypnotizing the sound was.

He quickly focused his eyes on his own bowl of stew, shoveling it into his mouth with gusto. Worried that Sakura would watch him eat the same way he had watched her, he finished the bowl as quickly as possible and refused seconds.

Itachi pushed his bowl away and cleared his throat. "Thank you for all your help thus far," he started, nodding his head to the two Kumo men. They returned the gesture. "But, despite how long we've been in this country, neither Sakura nor I are any closer to completing our mission. And, while I would like to return to Konoha as soon as possible, we can't do so until we complete our mission. Right, Sakura?"

Itachi was happy to see her genuinely listening to him and nodding in agreement. It seemed that regardless of their previous argument, the mission took precedent over bruised egos. As someone who always put the mission first, he was happy to see Sakura held similar opinions.

Sakura leaned back in her chair, folding her hands in her lap. "Yaku, Gaku. I came to Kumogakure to meet with the Raikage and talk about the reasons behind his attacks on Konoha shinobi. Since I entered this village, I haven't gotten any answers. With the manhunt and the widespread anti-Konoha sentiments, doing information recon would be near impossible. Our only hope of gathering any information is you two."

Gaku paled at the suggestion, dropping his spoon. "You can't be serious," Yaku laughed. "That's treason."

"Oh, so _now_ you're worried about treason?" Itachi scoffed. Sakura punched his shoulder, but that didn't make his comment any less true. He pointed at Gaku, "You freed two of the most high profile Konoha shinobi from a top-level ANBU interrogation unit," he now pointed at Yaku, "And you decided to hide said wanted shinobi in your house. You're both already traitors, how could leaking a bit of information makes things worse?"

Yaku looked like he was ready with a retort but decided to bite his lip instead. Gaku avoided eye-contact with Sakura and Itachi. Before Itachi could continue berating the men for their belated caution and self-preservation, Sakura placed her hand on top of his. The contact had startled him, both because he hadn't expected her to touch him and because he hadn't expected to feel calmed by it. He looked at her hand, slightly disappointed to see Naruto's hand underneath it. How would his hand look underneath hers?

"What Naruto is _trying_ to say, is that we are a little . . . confused," Sakura sighed. Itachi was too distracted by her hand to object to her word choice; they weren't confused, they were just uninformed. There was a difference.

"We've lost countless shinobi fighting against your country, and we don't even know why," Sakura continued, "For what reason are we sending young men and women to early graves?" Itachi had to admit that Sakura was doing a good job. The two men were shifting between expressions of guilt and defeat, cringing at what Itachi assumed was the thought of all the fallen shinobi.

Itachi shimmied his hand out from underneath Sakura's, clearing his head. "It's not just our shinobi dying. Yaku, you told me that the Raikage had promoted many shinobi to positions they weren't skilled enough for. What do you think happens when an untrained shinobi fights an _actually _trained shinobi – who do you think dies?"

His words may have been harsher than Sakura's, but he felt their arguments were made clear. Now, it was up to them to decide whether or not they'd help.

"I don't know how much help we'd be," Gaku started. Yaku shot a glance to his brother, brows furrowed, but Gaku ignored the gaze and continued, "The Raikage has been hiding a lot of information, leaving us with mostly just rumors."

Sakura smiled, "Any help is appreciated." Gaku returned the smile, nervously fumbling with his hands.

Yaku folded his arms, scowling. "Fine. What do you want to know?"

Itachi looked to Sakura, only to find that she'd done the same thing. What _did_ they want to know?

Itachi thought momentarily about the information they already had, and the holes in their knowledge. They knew that the Raikage had shut himself off from communication a while before the attacks on Konoha shinobi had started. Soon after the first attacks, the Mizukage and Tsuchikage inexplicably joined forces. To Itachi, the biggest questions resided in these two facts. What happened to the Raikage, and how did he convince Kirigakure and Iwagakure to attack Konoha?

"Has the Raikage been . . . different lately?" Itachi asked. Sakura nodded her head, probably thinking the same question.

"I don't think so–" Gaku started, but Yaku interrupted him with a grunt.

"He's definitely been weird," Yaku explained, "But it's been like that for a while."

"How long is 'a while'?" Sakura pressed.

The two men looked at one another. Yaku nodded to Gaku, turning back to them. "Probably since . . . well, since Killerbee died."

Now it was their turn to be speechless. _Killerbee was dead? _How? When? Why didn't Konoha know? Itachi leaned back in his chair, hearing Sakura's chair creak as she did the same. Killerbee was admired by many high-ranking shinobi – surely news of his death would have made it to Konoha.

Yaku cleared his throat, "I guess you guys didn't know."

"No . . . we didn't," Itachi flatly replied. What else didn't they know?

Sakura's eyes were tightly closed, and her jaw was clenched. He was reminded of the way she hadn't hesitated to reach out to him, both physically and emotionally. He was sure she only did it because she thought she was helping Naruto, but that didn't make it any less welcome to the man beneath the henge.

Itachi wasn't the type to initiate contact with a woman; so much can go wrong that it was usually better to wait for them to act. He clenched and unclenched the fist in his lap. Was this the right time? She looked pained - would she want to be consoled? People reach out to those that need consoling, right?

He shot his hand out, knowing that if he were slow about it, he would have pulled back. His hand reached for the closest part of her, which turned out to be her knee. Her face snapped to look at him, and her startled eyes made him immediately regret the move. Itachi started to pull his hand away, but Sakura grabbed it, drawing it into her lap. She focused her gaze on his hand, running one thumb over his knuckles while they other thumb kneaded small circles into his palm.

Itachi couldn't help but feel as though he were the one being comforted, when the whole point had been to comfort Sakura. He supposed Naruto would feel sad over Killerbee's death; he was a friend and mentor to the blonde shinobi, and they had bonded over their shared burden as jinchuriki. Would Naruto have cried over the loss of Killerbee? Would he have sought out Sakura for consoling? He'd never seen the man mourn a loss. Itachi didn't really feel sad right now; his emotions were more akin to frustration than loss.

Sakura's muffled sniffles drew Itachi's gaze back to her face. She was crying.

Since his hand hadn't been rejected, Itachi felt more confident as he slid his chair flush with Sakura's. He pressed his thigh against hers. He wasn't a hugger, but he felt the contact was enough to let her know he was there. He felt her thigh tense for a moment, but sure enough, her leg relaxed against his, and she clutched his hand harder.

"We're sorry . . . we didn't know you were close to Killerbee," Gaku said with a soft voice, "How did you know him?"

Sakura straightened her back, releasing one hand from Itachi's to wipe away the wet tear trails. "Killerbee trained Naruto for quite some time. We were all great friends by the time their training had ended. He was a kind man."

Yaku and Gaku nodded, keeping silent as they too remembered how kindhearted Killerbee had been.

Itachi was careful not to react to Sakura's words. Despite reading the file on Naruto's training with Killerbee, he knew very little of what had actually happened during those months on the island. He prayed that his lack of expression seemed like shock and would deter any questions about Naruto's time with Killerbee.

"As much as I'd like to mourn Killerbee, this news doesn't change our present situation," Sakura said, struggling to keep her voice even. She cleared her throat. "You, uh, said that the Raikage was different after Killerbee's death? How so?"

Yaku and Gaku mirrored Sakura's straight posture.

"He's always been a strange man, but Killerbee's death did something to him. He isolated himself for weeks; he didn't even come to Killerbee's memorial service. But, after weeks of silence, he just sprang back," Gaku explained.

"He went bat-shit crazy," Yaku amended.

"We shinobi were the first to notice . . . irregularities," Gaku continued, "Missions were on-hold while he was away, so we thought there would be tons of work after he returned, but all we got were scouting missions on the Konoha border. Then the promotions came." If there was one thing Itachi couldn't stand, it was wasting lives because an idiot commanded it.

"Shortly after the promotions and scouting missions, shinobi form Kirigakure and Iwagakure flooded our country," Yaku said. He paused, smiling wryly, "I remember when they first arrived in Kumo; there was so much tensions in the air. People knew war was coming, and no one wanted be on the wrong side. Within a few days, everyone was shouting how much they hated Konoha."

"That explains a lot," Itachi grumbled. He remembered how vehemently the townspeople had cried for Sakura's death.

While he had a lot to say about the prejudice in Kumo, he had to stay focused on the task at hand. Yaku and Gaku had given them more information about the timeline of events, which previously had some gapping holes. The holes were still there, but they were shrinking – slowly, but shrinking nonetheless.

Killerbee's death, while unfortunate, did supply a sufficient explanation for the Raikage to become mentally unstable and declare war. What seemed to be the big question now, was what part of the Raikage's madness made the Mizukage and Tsuchigake become allies? Surely the two Kages would have seen the Raikage as nothing more than an emotional mess and would have decided to steer clear of his war declarations.

Gaku and Yaku had been helpful, but their knowledge was limited. The only gapping hole left was the timeline during the Raikage's seclusion. Itachi would bet that the madman had made all his war plans while hidden away; they needed to speak to someone who knew exactly what he did during that time. Filling one gap had revealed another.

Sakura must have also realized this, sliding her bowl forward and slumping in her chair. Itachi would have preferred to keep questioning the two Kumo men, but Sakura's sigh had been coupled with a wince of pain. What she needed – what they both needed – was some rest.

Itachi got up from the table, mumbling his thanks to the Kumo men for both the food and the information. He positioned himself next to Sakura's chair and held out his hand. "Come on, Sakura."

* * *

><p>Sakura peered up at the hand stretched toward her. There was something comforting about Naruto's hands. They were always so warm and large, and they never failed be a soothing balm to her nerves. She gladly placed her hand in Naruto's, sighing contently as the other wrapped around her waist to help her stand. She didn't even bother resisting Naruto's help; the minute his arm was around her, she forgot her protests.<p>

They hobbled together to the bedroom, and Naruto helped lower her to the bed, gently easing each limb onto the mattress. It wasn't the most comfortable mattress she'd slept on, but it definitely beat the forest floors and cement she'd been sleeping on during time in Kumo.

She scooted herself back until she could rest against the headboard. Naruto stood next to her, and the situation gave Sakura a heavy dose of déjà vu. Less than an hour ago, they had been exactly as they were now: Sakura was on the bed and Naruto loomed over her. Last time, Naruto had chucked her onto the bed, and the two had erupted into a senseless argument. Had that really just been an hour ago? With the news of Killerbee's death, their argument seemed ancient.

Sakura looked up at Naruto, only to meet his blank gaze. Had he been staring at her the whole time? Naruto was barely breathing; his chest taking shallow dips with each breathe. "Naruto?" She murmured. He averted his gaze to the floor, but made no sign to respond to her. Sakura wasn't used to seeing such a blank face on Naruto. She couldn't tell if he was mourning Killerbee, regretting their argument, or embarrassed about his behavior – or maybe it was none of those; she was only grasping at straws.

"Naruto . . . look at me . . . please," Sakura said, keeping her voice soft. She had no fight left in her, and all she wanted was Naruto to return to normal. She longed for a friend and companion, and he wasn't acting like either of those things right now. Naruto hesitantly eyed the spot next to her on the bed, shifting from one foot to the other. In that moment, Sakura realized that Naruto probably wanted the same thing as she did; Sakura wasn't the only one who'd lost a friend today.

She patted the spot next to her on the bed, smiling encouragingly. She wanted to laugh at the way Naruto audibly swallowed before taking her offer. She wanted to tell him there was no need to be nervous, that she wasn't mad anymore and that everything was going to be okay. The silence that had descended upon them was too heavy to break, so Sakura instead tugged on the fabric of his grey borrowed shirt, not letting go until his side was resting against hers.

The warmth radiating off Naruto's skin was too tempting to resist, and Sakura's hands unconsciously wound around his waist, pulling the blonde closer and nestling her head on his chest. "Sakura . . ." Naruto tone was soft, but she couldn't deny hearing the warning his voice held. "This . . . this isn't okay."

Sakura rubbed her cheek against his clothed chest, holding him tighter. She didn't want to give up this warmth. They had only been in Kumo for a few days, but her relationship with Naruto had been on a rollercoaster. She'd left Konoha knowing she had a best friend to return to, and when she saw him dragged into her cell, she was both elated and anguished by his presence. Now, in this bedroom, it was as if they were on a mission as awkward twelve-year-old genin again, embarrassed to share a tent with their opposite gendered teammate.

She'd had more mood swings in the last few days than she'd had in the last year, and her nerves couldn't take much more. Why couldn't they just settle on a dynamic? Was he going to be her friend or . . . or maybe something more? The thought of Naruto being more than a friend was a foreign concept to Sakura but not an unwelcome one.

Naruto – or any male shinobi, really – weren't the most forthcoming with their feelings, so it wasn't as though he and Sakura could talk about these new developments. There's no way Sakura could fix a problem that needed both their efforts. What could Sakura do?

Sakura continued to skim her cheek across Naruto's cotton-covered chest, his steady heartbeat anchoring her in the present. When Naruto realized she wasn't going to move, he shifted underneath her, his hands moving to grip her shoulders. She had no fight left in her, so she let Naruto push her away. She tried not to ignore the sting in her chest, attributing it to her many injuries and not to the pain of Naruto's rejection.

But the pain in Sakura's chest was quickly forgotten as Naruto clawed at her shoulders. Sakura gasped as his fingers dug relentlessly into her skin. It took a moment for her to finally look up, to see why Naruto had such a death-grip on her poor shoulder – which was already injured, Sakura wanted to add.

Naruto's face was twisted in pain, his arms and chest shaking as he tried to repress whatever was happening to him. Sakura extricated herself from Naruto and leaned over him, her hands readied with green chakra. A ragged, strangled cough slipped through Naruto's control. _Coughing? Again?_ Sakura frantically thought. As if on cue, she relived the panic she'd felt when she witnessed Naruto's coughing fit for the first time in the prison cell. Her hands were drawn to his chest like a magnet.

Despite her own body's desperate need to heal, Sakura drew her chakra away from her injuries and pushed it into Naruto's chest. She flooded his system with as much chakra as she had at her disposal. Chakra conservation was the least of her concerns right now. Within seconds of her chakra seeping into him, Sakura met an obstacle. A thick wall of chakra surrounded Naruto's lungs and heart, and it was treating Sakura like a foreign invader, rejecting her healing chakra.

Sakura prodded the wall with her chakra, and the more she investigated it, the more familiar it was. She sifted through her memory. Where had she encountered this before? Patient charts and medical records flashed in her mind.

Before her mind could identify the familiarity, she felt Naruto's shaking hand grip the front of her shirt. She looked down at the clenched fist, noticing for the first time that he still had his shackles on. She took one hand off his chest and, remembering how Gaku took hers off, diverted some chakra to the metal cuff. She reached for his other hand and did the same, but the instant the second cuff fell away, Naruto shot forward, his entire body curling in on itself. Sakura infused her arms with chakra to push him back down to the mattress, finding herself struggling to overcome Naruto's monstrous strength.

But just as quickly as it all happened, it ended.

Naruto's body relaxed against Sakura's hold, and she was able to lay him back down. His convulsing and coughing had mysteriously stopped. Sakura felt his chakra levels rising and absently wondered if the return of his chakra was stabilizing his condition.

What happened next would leave Sakura both slack-jawed and ready to punch someone.

The first thing to disappear was Naruto's trademark whiskers. Black ink dyed the roots of Naruto's once golden hair, spreading until ebony hair fanned across the pillow. His soft facial features shifted to reveal a strong jaw and prominent cheekbones. This wasn't the face of a teenager. This was the face of a man.

Sakura's gaze tore away from his face as the rest of his body changed. Gone was Naruto's bulky frame, replaced by lean muscle and hard planes.

A long groan drew Sakura's attention back to his face. "Sakura?" His eyes fluttered open. Sakura vainly hoped to see the brilliantly clear blue eyes she knew so well. But her hope was short-lived as the identity of this man dawned on her.

The Sharingan looked out beneath silky eyelashes, their gaze seeking out Sakura's.

_How could I be so stupid? _Sakura scolded herself. _Why couldn't I sense this wasn't Naruto? The false kindness, the coughing spells . . . it was so obvious . . ._

"Sakura?" He groaned again.

It took Sakura a moment to find the words she wanted to say. What do you say to someone who has deceived you? Who has impersonated your best friend and manipulated your feelings?

_I'm such an idiot_ . . .

She cleared her throat. "Haruno-san," she corrected. Confusion clouded his face. "I don't believe I've give you permission to use my first name . . . Uchiha-san."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Itachi isn't Naruto anymore! FINALLY! I was so tempted to write this whole chapter in Itachi's perspective – I reeeaallllyyy like writing for Itachi :D I'm trying to be more fair with my POV splitting, but we'll see if I'm successful with that. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it :)

_Please read and review!_


	8. Caged

**Author's Note: **This is a big chapter! So big, actually, that I couldn't stop writing, and I finished the next chapter! I still need to do grammar edits (which won't take very long), so I'll post it soon :) Enjoy the chapter!

**Disclaimer: **Despite the fact that I'm a poor college student who could use the cash, I'm not making money from this. Please don't sue me.

* * *

><p>~ Chapter 8: Caged ~<p>

It took Itachi a moment to comprehend Sakura's words. _Uchiha-san? _Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw long black hair draping over his shoulders. _Shit . . ._

Itachi in no way felt ready to deal with Sakura or this new development. His lungs felt raw, as they usually did after a coughing fit, but he knew that his condition wouldn't stop save him from Sakura's anger. From what Itachi had observed of her, Sakura was nothing if not persistent. Propping himself up on his elbows, he braced himself for the onslaught of Sakura's questions.

But there weren't any questions. Sakura just sat there, silent. Her expression was surprisingly blank for a kunoichi who had a history of violent outbursts.

Itachi opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, an explosion reverberated through the floorboards, shaking the furniture and the two shinobi.

In the next moment, Itachi grabbed their backpack, dividing what few weapons they had between them. Sakura wordlessly took the supplies, stuffing what she could into her pockets. It was a rather ungraceful solution to hold weapons, but Itachi found himself doing the same. Neither of them had kunai holders, wrappings, or even shoes to hide the weapons. Shinobi are meant to be walking armories, and although Sakura and Itachi were grateful for the clothes they were given, the sweatpants and t-shirt were pitiful weapons holders.

When they both had hidden what they could in their clothes, they sprinted through the house and ducked under a windowsill. Just as their shoulders hit the wall, another explosion shook the house. Loose rubble fell from the ceiling; the humble wood cabin wasn't built to withstand a shinobi attack.

"What's going on?" Sakura said in an urgent whisper, "Who's attacking us?"

Itachi peered over the windowsill, searching the front yard for a perpetrator. The only shinobi he could see were Gaku and Yaku, who also sought refuge from the blast. The two Kumo shinobi were perched in a nearby tree. They saw Itachi, and the three men exchanged nods, acknowledging one another. In a simultaneous jump, the two brothers both rushed towards the house. Ducking behind a windowsill next to Sakura and Itachi, the two men readied themselves with weapons.

"Who's attacking us?" Gaku said.

Sakura shrugged, "That's what I asked. Could this be ANBU?"

"No, I don't think so," Yaku said, "If it were ANBU, they'd be stealthier, you know? They'd send in one or two guys, poison us or slit our throats or whatever, and be done with it."

Itachi didn't appreciate Yaku's word choice, but he was right. ANBU are servants of their Kages and act in their Kage's best interest. Kumo wanted Sakura and Naruto dead, if they couldn't be publicly executed, then an assassination would be just as good. So far, none of the attacks had been lethal; they were more like warning shots.

"Could it be Konoha forces?" Gaku suggested, "They could be trying to rescue you." Just as the words left Gaku's mouth, a round of kunai shot through the window.

"No," Sakura resigned with a sigh, "It's not Konoha." The three men echoed her sigh.

Before they could speculate further, the four shinobi heard forces approach. Itachi peered over the ledge again. A single cloaked figure stepped into the clearing in front of the house, and Kumo ANBU could be seen behind the line of trees.

"That's the guy!" Gaku exclaimed, pointing to the clearing. He instantly covered his mouth and shrank below the window ledge, clearly forgetting that they were supposed to be hiding. He continued, remembering to whisper this time, "It's him – the guy I told you was helping the Raikage."

Yaku scoffed, "More like blackmailing the Raikage. I saw him before I found you guys. He had the Raikage under his thumb."

_So, that's Konoha's rat, _Itachi thought. If he could find out who the rat was, he could bring the name to the Hokage and seal the information leak. Assuming, of course, that he and Sakura weren't killed in the process.

The cloaked man shifted his feet. In a teasing voice, he said, "I know you're in there, Sakura. You too, Itachi."

* * *

><p>Sakura paled at the sound of her name. She knew that voice. She'd grown up with that voice.<p>

She rose out of her crouched stance, ignoring Gaku tugging at her arm. She walked out into the clearing, never letting her eyes leave the cloaked man's form. When she was a few feet in from of him, she stopped.

She'd recognize that arrogant smirk any day.

"Sasuke?" Sakura murmured. She felt a smile threatening to break through – finally, a familiar face! But she was feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Naruto magically appeared in Kumo with her, and he turned out to be Uchiha Itachi. Why was Sasuke here? Was it even Sasuke – was this another henge deceiving her?

She heard Itachi leave his hiding spot inside the house, leaves crunching as he stepped into the clearing. He walked until he stood in front of her, blocking Sasuke from her view. It was probably for the best, Sakura fleetingly thought, because she didn't trust her judgment right now. Then again, Sakura's trust in Itachi wasn't the greatest either.

Her mind repeated Gaku's words, that this man in the clearing – Sasuke – was a spy working for the Raikage. She couldn't believe it. Why would Sasuke be loyal to the Raikage? The only person Sasuke was loyal to was himself and their genin team. In fact, Sasuke was probably only loyal to the Hokage out of spite for his family.

But this was _Sasuke_, for Kami's sake! Arrogant, can't-be-bothered, stupid Sasuke! She'd known him since their academy days, and he hadn't changed much since then; he'd always be the little black-haired boy scowling in the corner. This was the same boy she had unconditionally loved and obsessed over until adulthood knocked some sense into her.

"Why are you here, Sasuke?" Itachi said, Sharingan blazing.

"Nii-san, aren't you happy to see me? Where's my warm brotherly welcome?" Sasuke smirked.

"Answer the question, Sasuke," Itachi pressed. Sakura was surprised by the bite in Itachi's voice. She knew there was a competitive streak between the brothers, but she'd never seen either Uchiha legitimately angry at the each other; they would always be brothers.

"Am I going to at least get a warm welcome from you, Sakura?" Sasuke said. Although the words were directed at Sakura, Sasuke and Itachi never broke eye contact.

"I don't like repeating myself, _otouto_," Itachi said, "Sakura, get inside the house."

"But–" Sakura tried to protest.

"Now, Sakura," Itachi ordered.

"No." Sakura grabbed Itachi's shoulder and forced him to look at her. Sasuke's appearance may have left her dazed for a few moments, but her mind was clear again. "You have no right to be giving me orders, Uchiha-san."

Itachi grabbed her wrist, removing it from his shoulder. "This isn't the time–"

"Had you considered the severity of _lying _to me while in enemy territory, we might not be on the run from the Raikage and his ANBU forces," Sakura said, gritting her teeth. "You may have outranked me in Konoha, but out here, we're equals. I have every right to judge the situation on my own and act accordingly."

She ripped her wrist out of Itachi's hold and turned to Sasuke. Sasuke smiled at her, but it only put Sakura more on edge. She cleared her throat. "Sasuke, why are you here?"

Sasuke took a step toward her. "I'm here to bring you home, Sakura."

Itachi crossed his arms and scoffed. _Just ignore him_, Sakura told herself. "Then why are we surrounded by Kumo ANBU?"

"Oh, them? They're rebels," Sasuke shrugged, "Not everyone in Kumo supports the Raikage's war."

Sakura's brow furrowed. She wanted to believe Sasuke, she really did. She wanted to believe that Sasuke was truly here to bring her back, and that the Kumo forces wanted to protect them. She wanted Sasuke to be telling the truth. She really did.

Her mind knew better, though.

There was no way there was this many rebels amongst Kumo's ANBU – especially when ANBU were unwaveringly loyal to their Kage. Even if they wereloyal to Konoha, why would they have attacked the cabin with exploding tags and kunai?

So, if Sasuke was lying about the ANBU, what else was he lying about? Was he really here to take her back to Konoha?

_Better safe than sorry_, Sakura reminded herself. Itachi may have lied about being Naruto, but his intentions had always been clear: protect her and return to Konoha. Sakura couldn't afford to put her faith in Sasuke's cloudy intentions.

She would need to be very careful with her next move. She only had a couple kunai in her pockets; the rest of her weapons and medical supplies were in their backpack, in the cabin. She couldn't flee from this situation – not with her healing injuries.

Her only chance of survival was Itachi's help. She needed to talk to Itachi.

"Are we leaving now?" Sakura asked, hoping it sounded nonchalant. She received two very different looks from the Uchiha brothers: a pleased smile from Sasuke, and a disappointed frown from Itachi.

Sasuke nodded. "Whenever you're ready, Sakura-chan."

Sakura repressed a grimace from the diminutive and forced herself to nod. The only thing that mattered right now was getting inside the house. She could punch the smug bastard later from calling her Sakura-chan. _Stay calm,_ Sakura thought, _he hasn't realized you know he's lying._

She shifted her weight to what she hoped looked like a relaxed posture. "Okay, well let me just grab my things," she said, gesturing to the house.

"I can have my men get it–"

"No!" _Too eager_, she chastised herself. "I mean – that's okay. I don't really want strange men going through my underwear." She added a giggle and smile to the end. _You're adorable, pure-hearted Sakura-chan. He won't suspect a thing._

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but agreed to her request. When she turned toward the house, she made sure to lock eyes with Itachi. She glanced from him to the house. The gesture took less than a few seconds, but she couldn't spare anymore time or else Sasuke would become suspicious. _Use your brain, Itachi! Understand what I'm trying to say!_

Sakura walked past the Uchiha brothers, watching the two brothers through their reflection in the house's windows. Neither of them was moving. It wasn't until Sakura was almost at the house's front door that Itachi's reflection moved toward the house.

The minute she crossed the house's threshold, she headed straight for the bedroom. Behind her, three sets of feet followed her. When the four of them reached the bedroom, Itachi closed the door behind them with a barely audible _click_.

Sakura knew that everyone probably had their own opinions about Sasuke's showing up, but for once she didn't want to listen. She wanted to command.

"We don't have a lot of time. If I'm in here too long, Sasuke will know something is up," Sakura urgently whispered. While she spoke, she "packed" so that if someone was listening, they would hear her rustling through clothes. "For the moment, Sasuke can't be trusted, we are not – I repeat, _not_ – going to kill him." She pointedly looked at Yaku and Gaku. She knew Itachi would never kill his little brother, but two men from Kumo would have no such qualms.

It wouldn't be easy to think of a plan, and for a moment no one said anything.

"A barrier," Gaku blurted, "That's the only option." A barrier was a good plan, but it was only a temporary solution. Every barrier has a time limit, and all Sasuke would have to do is return when the barrier went down. They'd be in the same situation, except now Sasuke would be far less friendly.

"Don't worry, _this_ barrier will work. It'll save you," Gaku said, his voice soft. Sakura thought she heard a hint of sadness in his voice, but she dismissed it.

Before Sakura could process it, Gaku grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. His grip was light, but His eyes searched her face, which undoubtedly looked confused. He brought his other hand up to run his knuckles along her jaw and then comb his fingers into her hair. His eyes looked far away, lost in whatever world he'd put himself.

"Gaku?" His name barely left her lips before his own lips silenced her. The kiss was shy and chaste, and it ended before Sakura had realized it'd begun. His lips lingered for a second, and then he was gone, leaving the room.

Yaku followed after Gaku, but Itachi stayed behind. Their eyes met, and Sakura felt the unasked question that hung between them. _What was that? _Sakura left the room before Itachi could verbalize the question. Sakura didn't know what just happened, but she also felt like she didn't owe Itachi any kind of answer. If there had been any kind of respect between them, it had been shattered earlier that day. She wasn't going to pretend like this situation had eased any kind of wound. Itachi needed to know she was still angry.

For the second time today, Sakura felt a sick sense of déjà vu.

She walked down the hallway, approaching an arguing Gaku and Yaku. A pit was forming in Sakura's stomach and making her nauseous. Listening her body's signals, Sakura stayed in the hallway. She did, however, eavesdrop.

"Don't be an idiot!" Sakura recognized the voice as Yaku's. At least this time, they weren't yelling; instead, the harsh words were exchanged in fervent whispers.

"Do you really want our last conversation to be an argument?" Gaku replied. _Last? _Sakura's thoughts echoed_._

"This is _not_ going to be our last conversation. You're not going to do anything. This isn't our problem."

"Yes, it is–"

"Are you really going to sacrifice yourself for a girl you've known for three days and leave me, your _brother_, behind?" Yaku's voice cracked.

Sakura tried to make sense of the brothers' words. Was Gaku going to use himself as bait? Was he going to draw away Sasuke's forces, so they could escape?

While Yaku's voice was thick with sorrow and panic, Gaku's voice was steady. "Yaku, I'm sacrificing myself for you, too. This is for all of us."

"How? How could this possibly help me?"

"You keep telling me to 'stop being an idiot and think', but you should take your own advice. Look at the situation, Yaku. There's no way either of us make it out of here alive. When that guy gets Sakura, do you really think he'll leave us alone? No. We'll be collateral. At least this way, one of us stays alive."

"You don't know that–"

"You've always been a better fighter than me." Sakura could hear the smile in Gaku's voice. "You have the best chance of surviving this mess. I'm probably going to die soon anyway, considering what a bad shinobi I am. I'll fall on my own kunai, or something stupid."

Yaku didn't respond, but Sakura could hear the muffled sobs and broken breathing.

A hand touched her shoulder, making her flinch. Her head whipped around, only to find Itachi. _He must have been eavesdropping too_, Sakura thought.

"You should say goodbye," Itachi said, lightly guiding her towards to kitchen with the hand on her shoulder. _Say goodbye? Why is everyone acting like Gaku is dying? He's putting up a barrier– _

Her thoughts halted, and Sakura's eyes went wide. She understood now. She knew what Gaku was going to do. All barriers have time limits. Except one type.

Blood-sacrifice barriers.

"You heard him. This is for the best," Itachi said, dropping his hand.

Sakura didn't know what to do. Sasuke was outside with thirty-or-so Kumo ANBU, and he was waiting for her. They needed a plan – to either escape or get rid of Sasuke. Couldn't they think of something else? Surely Gaku's death wasn't the only option? There had to be something else they could do!

But the clock was ticking. Every second Sakura was panicking, was a second she could be thanking Gaku and saying goodbye. Sakura felt hot tears roll down her cheeks. She didn't have time to be selfish.

She walked into the kitchen where she found Gaku and Yaku hugging. When the two of them heard her come in, they separated and Yaku gave Gaku one last squeeze on the shoulder. Both their faces were red. Yaku wiped away a stray tear.

Gaku took a step toward her, lips quirking into a sad smile. "Figured it out, huh?"

"I was listening." Sakura tried returning the smile but couldn't. Her body felt heavy and tired, like she hadn't slept in weeks.

Gaku took another step, standing almost toe-to-toe with her. He grasped both of her hands in his. "Do you remember when we first met?" Sakura shook her head. After the Raikage ordered her to be tortured, everything became a blur.

"I do," Gaku whispered. He thumbed her wrists; they looked so small in his hands. "You didn't cry, you didn't scream, and you didn't beg for mercy. They tortured you within an inch of your life, but you never broke. You were so strong."

Sakura knew she was crying, but she couldn't hear the sobs over the loud thumbing of her heartbeat.

Gaku continued, "I remember how you looked, all crumpled on the ground. I remember wondering what you had done to deserve it. Sure, you're a shinobi and you've probably killed people – but every shinobi has done that. It's our job. I realized that . . . that you were just another victim of the Raikage's madness."

Sakura didn't want to hear any more. She knew it was selfish to cut him off – these were his last words, after all – but she didn't want his forgiveness or his admiration. Sakura threw her arms around his shoulders, hoping her thoughts were conveyed in the way she clutched him close to her.

She could feel Gaku's hands hover over her back, hesitating. They lowered slowly onto the small of her back, and when his hands finally touched her, she could feel them shaking. His head rested on her shoulder, his chest expanding against hers to breathe her in.

And then, all at once, he let go, detaching himself from her. Gaku shook his head and straightened his shoulders. "I need one last thing," Gaku said, voice surprisingly even, "I need a few drops of blood form you, Sakura."

Sakura withdrew a kunai, about to prick her finger, when Itachi stopped her. "Why do you need her blood?" Itachi said, eyes narrow.

Blood was a dangerous this to give away in the shinobi world, since it was a requirement for many forbidden jutsu.

Gaku's smile returned. "By adding Sakura's blood to the jutsu, I'll bind the barrier to her." Gaku's explanation didn't seem to assuage Itachi's worries, but Itachi backed away.

Gaku walked over to the kitchen table. With a kunai, he cut his finger and began to write the jutsu's seal on the tabletop. There was a small, empty circle in the middle of the insignia. Gaku guided Sakura to the table, gesturing to the circle.

Sakura pricked her finger. Holding the hand over the inscribed circle, she squeezed the finger, producing small blood droplets. They dropped into the circle, sizzling as they burned into the wood.

"With the impending war and all, you'll probably be in a lot of danger," Gaku said, "It isn't much, but I want this home to be your sanctuary. You can come and go as you like, and it will always protect you."

"You mean, _you _will always protect me," Sakura corrected, finally finding her voice.

Gaku laughed. "That's the idea, yeah." He backed away from the table, and began to form a complicated series of hand seals. Sakura couldn't keep up, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw Itachi had activated his Sharingan.

Gaku landed on the final seal. He looked to Yaku, "Goodbye, brother." Then he looked to Sakura, "Goodbye, Sakura." He clapped his hands.

A blinding light emanated from Gaku, growing until it enveloped the whole house. Gaku's screams rang through Sakura, and all she could do was watch as his body disintegrated into the light.

When the last pieces of Gaku had disappeared, the light faded. With Gaku's screams no longer filling the space, the world felt eerily quiet. Sakura looked over to the kitchen table and saw Gaku's seal had permanently burned itself into the wood. It was the only evidence that Gaku had ever been there.

Sakura wished she could have had time to grieve Gaku, to properly pray and thank him for his sacrifice. But she wasn't afforded that luxury.

Yaku left the kitchen and returned dressed in a traveling cloak. He shifted his backpack on his shoulder. "Well," Yaku cleared his throat, "I'm leaving."

This baffled Sakura. After all that his brother did to protect this house, he was just going to leave? How could he do that?

"It may have been my brother's dying wish to protect you, but it's not mine," Yaku said. His face was hard and rigid. "Good luck." And with that, Yaku disappeared out the door.

As soon as Yaku had left, Sakura finally remembered the whole reason this had all happened: Sasuke. He was still outside.

With Gaku's barrier protecting her now, Sakura felt safe enough to walk into the front yard and confront Sasuke once again.

Sasuke was livid. He was banging on the barrier wall, shouting at the Kumo ANBU to attack the wall. The shinobi were throwing weapons at it, burning through chakra to throw ninjutsu at it.

Nothing was working. The barrier still stood strong. _Thank you, Gaku._

"What is this, Sakura?" Sasuke demanded. As Sakura looked at her childhood friend, his face contorted and his stance aggressive, she knew she'd made the right choice. Something wasn't right with Sasuke.

Sakura clenched her fists at her side. "I'm sorry, Sasuke," she said. "I'm not going with you."

For a moment, they just stared at one another, waiting for the other to break first. The silence gave Sasuke a moment to compose himself, getting out of his offensive stance into a more casual once and calming his breathing. "Well, if you're not coming with me, then you're not going anywhere," Sasuke said, smirking. He turned to the ANBU teams, "Surround the barrier!"

The Kumo ANBU began to organize around the circumference of the barrier, just along the edge of the forest. There was no way they'd be able to slip through the barrier now.

Sakura stormed to the edge of the barrier where Sasuke stood. "What do you think you're doing?" Sakura hissed through gritted teeth.

"Keeping you safe, Sakura-chan," Sasuke replied, still smirking. "Perhaps some time stuck in this barrier will give you a little _perspective_. Let my men know when you change your mind."

"I'm not going with you, Sasuke!" Sakura yelled. But it was useless; Sasuke had already turned to leave, disappearing into forest.

Sakura raised her head and screamed.

She screamed at Sasuke for his stupidity and arrogance. She screamed at Yaku for deserting them. She screamed at Itachi for deceiving her.

But most of all, she screamed for Gaku. He was the only one in this damn country that she could trust, and now he was gone.

When her throat felt too raw to scream any more, she collapsed to her knees and cried.

* * *

><p>Knowing the barrier would keep her safe, Itachi left Sakura alone. He had heard her screaming from inside the house with painful clarity. The screams turned to sobs, and then Sakura went quiet. Itachi thought once she'd stopped crying, she would have come inside, but Sakura never moved from her spot. Curled in a fetal position, Sakura remained eerily still, even as the sun set and the temperature dropped.<p>

Itachi wasn't sure what to do in this situation. Sure, he'd been confronted with mourning comrades before – a common occurrence amongst shinobi. But this was different. Sakura was different.

Itachi's conscience was pulling him in two directions. One side told him to leave her be; she wouldn't want his pity, especially after finding out about his deception. The other side said that he should go to her; he was a familiar face that might soothe her.

Mostly, Itachi just wished to be Naruto again.

The moment Itachi's henge had disappeared, a boulder had been lifted off his shoulders… only to be replaced by another boulder. He might not have to pretend anymore, but Itachi missed the false security of Naruto's appearance. If Naruto were in this same situation, he wouldn't be analyzing the pros and cons of comforting Sakura. He would just _act_.

Comforting Sakura was a decidedly _anti_-Itachi thing to do, but Sakura didn't need an Itachi. She needed a Naruto.

Itachi grabbed the blanket from the bedroom and draped it over his arm. Making sure to walk on every creaking floorboard and crackling leaf, Itachi approached Sakura. Her body was caved in on itself, legs drawn to her chest and hands clenched over her heart. As he got closer to her, he was able to see the small shivers rippling through her.

"Sakura," Itachi said, as quietly as he could. "Sakura, are you alright?" Sakura gave no verbal or physical response to acknowledge she'd heard him.

He crouched next to her and lightly draped the blanket over her shoulders. The shivering didn't stop.

"You can't stay out here all night, Sakura," Itachi tried to reason. "Let's get inside, okay?"

He didn't want to be forceful, but he needed some sign of life from her. Itachi was used to being in roles of responsibility, like ANBU captain and clan heir – roles that demand obedience from others.

He had now been crouched next to Sakura for five minutes. Despite the blanket and Itachi's words, Sakura remained still. He didn't know what to say – if there even _was _anything to be said. But, he had to do something. He hadn't made the effort of coming out here with a blanket to get no results.

"Sakura," Itachi said, with a little more force than before. "I'm going to bring you inside." With slow movements, he unfurled her body so he could fit an arm under her knees. Before his hand could slide between her calf and thigh, Sakura's hand swatted him away.

"I don't need your help," Sakura bit out through gritted teeth. All Itachi could do to respond was nod.

They both rose from their crouched positions and headed for the house in complete silence. Itachi usually loved a little peace and quiet, but the silence between them was thick, painful even. It was like an expanding bubble that should have popped ages ago. Itachi could only prepare himself.

Entering the house was a completely different experience this time. Gone was the cozy comfort of home, replaced by rubble and discarded weapons. The worst offender, though, was the fining table. Only a few hours ago, the four of them had sat there, exchanging information like allies. Now, the table was the evidence of Gaku's sacrifice.

It wasn't even a table anymore; it was a tombstone.

Itachi looked over his shoulder to find Sakura also staring at the table. By the look on her face, she must have thought the same thing. He didn't have the strength in him to watch Sakura emotionally dissolve again, so he turned his back on her and went to the bedroom.

It wasn't until he heard her voice did Itachi realize Sakura had followed him. "Uchi–… Itachi, wait," Sakura whispered. He turned to face her. She clutched the blanket closer, gripping the blanket like it was the only thing grounding her in that moment. She gulped, then raised her head to look him straight in the eyes.

"We need to talk."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note<strong>: While it's fun to write Itachi's snarky inner dialogue, it's been a while since I wrote predominantly in Sakura's POV :) I briefly – like, a _millisecond_ – entertained the idea of Sakura being knocked out during the fight with Sasuke, but I think we can all agree that Sakura and Itachi have been unconscious enough in this fic :P Hope you all enjoyed it!

_**Please read and review!**_


	9. What Could Have Been

**Author's Note: **Here's the next chapter! Sakura and Itachi finally have their big talk. Enjoy!

[EDIT: I was so eager to post this, I missed a bunch of small spelling and grammar errors. Sorry, guys! I'm in the process of correcting them now.]

**Disclaimer: **Anti-lawsuit no jutsu! I do not own!

* * *

><p>~ Chapter 9: What Could Have Been ~<p>

"Can this wait until tomorrow?" Itachi said, shoulders stiffening. He had known this was coming, but it didn't make him any more prepared for it.

Sakura gripped the blanket tighter, her lips thinning into a straight line. "No."

The events of this very long day had worn down Itachi, so he made one last effort to put off their inevitable conversation. "We both need rest. We can talk tomorrow," he suggested.

"No," Sakura repeated. "We need to talk now."

Itachi's shoulders sagged with a sigh. "Can I at least sit down?"

Sakura's posture softened a bit. She nodded, and Itachi sat on the edge of the bed. Sakura, however, refused to sit down. Itachi didn't like people talking down to him, figuratively or literally, but he remained silent. This was her conversation, and he would let her have control of how it went. If she wanted to tower over him as she berated him with questions, then so be it.

Neither of them talked for a full minute. Itachi stared at the floorboards like a scolded school boy – which he might as well be – waiting for her to make the first move. Sakura, on the other hand, used the silence to prepare herself. Itachi could feel her eyes analyzing him. It made his skin crawl; he didn't like being a specimen.

"Start from the beginning." Sakura demanded.

"Tsunade-sama sent me to bring you back–" Itachi started.

"I didn't take you for an idiot, Uchiha," she scoffed.

"I didn't take you for one either, _Haruno_," Itachi replied. "You asked me to 'start from the beginning'. That's what I'm doing."

Sakura shifted her feet. Her lips were set in a hard line. "Don't be difficult. You knew what I meant."

Itachi leaned back to look up at Sakura, laying his hands out in front of him. "What do you want me to say?"

"I want you to tell me the truth." With an annoyed sigh, she crossed her arms. "Why did you lie to me? Why did you pretend to be Naruto all this time?"

"Because we needed to make the Raikage think–"

Sakura interrupted, hands now on her hips, "There were countless situations – situations we were _alone –_ that you could have told me. Instead, you insisted on keeping me in the dark."

Itachi had wondered when the interrogation would begin; this appeared to be it.

The blanket that she had been gripping moments ago slipped from her shoulders, but she didn't seem to notice. "You held me, comforted me, _bathed _me – all while pretending to be Naruto! I would have never let you do any of that if I'd know it was you!"

Itachi tried to ignore how her words stung. There was nothing to feel because there was nothing between them. At least that's what he told himself.

Sakura continued her rampage, "You abused my friendship with Naruto and manipulated my feelings. It's _your _fault I feel like this! Like . . . like I . . ."

Itachi watched as Sakura became breathless. Her eyes couldn't focus, and they scanned aimlessly around the room, looking at anything but him.

"Like what, Sakura?" Itachi prompted. When she didn't answer, he stood up, walking until he was toe-to-toe with her. His breath ghosted over her hair, rippling a few strands. "What do you feel?"

Sakura tightly closed her eyes and tilted her face away from him. Placing a hand between them, she lightly pressed against his chest. He let her push him away, but he would not let her ignore his question.

For the first time in a long while, Itachi was faced with a puzzle he didn't know how to solve. His muscles ached with a dull throb, a feeling he usually associated with low chakra and exhaustion. But this was a new ache. Like a magnet, it got stronger as Sakura got closer.

He looked closely at the woman in front of him. Her obnoxious pink hair was a memorable feature, and Itachi noticed the slow but steady increase of pink in his life. At first, there wasn't much at all – she was just on the fringe of his consciousness. When she was assigned to Sasuke's genin team, the "pink-haired girl" got a name: Haruno Sakura. She would go on to apprentice with the Hokage, adding even more pink to his life as he fulfilled his ANBU duties. It wasn't long before his vision swam in pink. She was at home, practicing with Sasuke and the Uzumaki kid. She was at the hospital, healing his injuries. She was in town, grocery shopping with his mother. And now? For better or worse, they were stuck in this infernal house together.

Pink, pink, pink.

Such a silly color to fall in love with.

"Sakura. Talk to me," Itachi asked softly.

Her hand rested limply against his chest. He grasped the hand, grazing his thumb against the soft skin on the back of her hand. He could feel her chakra pulsing underneath the pad of his finger.

Sakura slowly eased her eyes open until they were half-lidded. She sighed, and with it, her body succumbed to stress and fatigue from the day. Her shoulders sagged, her chest caved in, and the lines on her face became more prominent. Itachi wondered how she was still standing. Probably out of sheer will power.

"Why did you lie to me, Itachi?" Sakura said. Even her voice was laced with a tired drawl.

"I don't know," Itachi replied. And that was the truth. Logically, he recognized what Sakura said was true; he had plenty of opportunities to tell her about his real identity, but didn't. Itachi didn't have an answer for her.

She turned her head to finally meet his gaze. The hand that rested on his chest, once limp, now lightly held onto the front of his shirt, rubbing the cotton fabric between her fingers.

"If I had fallen in love with you, while you were 'Naruto' . . . what would you have done?" Sakura asked.

_If I had fallen in love with you _– those words repeated over and over in his mind. He barely heard the rest of the sentence. This was not the time to rediscover his boyish romanticism. _She didn't say she loved you, _Itachi reminded himself. _She said "if"._

"What do you mean?" Itachi said, brow furrowed as he tried to regain his composure.

"How long would you have kept up this farce?" Sakura asked, a sad smile growing. "Would you have told me when we returned to Konoha? And then what? Explain to the _real _Naruto that you 'accidently' made me fall in love with him? Was that the plan, Itachi?"

"I didn't have a plan," Itachi blurted.

"You're Uchiha Itachi_, _the prodigy of a legendary clad and probably the best ANBU operative Konoha has ever had – you _always_ have a plan."

The bubble of anger inside Itachi finally popped. Those words were able to cut through his thick skin like it was warm butter.

He shoved her away, ripping his shirt out of her hand. His posture stiffened and his frown deepened.

"I'm trapped in a house in the middle of nowhere with a woman whom I developed feelings for under false pretenses. My brother seems to be deliriously obsessed with the same woman and has committed treason in order to win her affections," Itachi sneered, "Forgive me for not having a plan. I'm a bit out of my depths here."

Itachi had expected her to shy away from his outburst, but instead she matched him, word for word.

"Like my situation is any better?" Sakura fumed. "I watched a good man die today, and even though I didn't know him very long, he showed me more kindness than I deserved. I'm proud to call him my friend, which is more than I can call you."

"Fine. You want a friend?" Itachi taunted. "Your so-called 'friend' is waiting outside that barrier, probably with a wedding ring in his pocket. I'm sure he'd be happy to help you out."

Sakura jabbed a finger into his sternum. "Don't you _dare_ bring Sasuke into this!"

"Why not? You've been his damsel in distress before – the role seems to come naturally to you–"

Itachi hadn't even finished talking before Sakura slapped him hard across the face. It was the kind of slap that left a lingering burn.

Both shinobi glared at each other with flared nostrils.

Itachi knew he was in the wrong, but he'd already lost enough footing in this argument. He couldn't help acting on the instinct to return her attacks, even if he deserved every word she tore through him.

Abruptly, Sakura spun around and stormed out of the bedroom. Itachi followed her as she passed through the kitchen and out the front door. He lunged for her hand, pulling her back to him. They stood in the middle of the lawn, their feet getting wet from the ice crystals coating the grass.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To Sasuke," Sakura retorted, ripping her hand away. "Because every damsel in distress needs her prince charming, right?"

Itachi rolled his eyes. "You don't need a prince charming, Sakura. And even if you did, he's definitely not Sasuke."

"You don't know anything about what I need," Sakura spat, "You're just a wolf in sheep's clothing! You're name even means 'weasel' – because that's exactly what you are!"

"Sakura, don't–"

"Don't _what_?" Sakura spat. "Go on, I dare you to lecture me. What shouldn't I do, Itachi?"

Things were getting out of hand. What had started as a quasi-intelligent conversation about his motives had devolved into incoherent insults. Both of their emotions were running on high, and they couldn't continue for much longer; a person could only get so angry. The question to ask, then, was how angry could Sakura get? At what point was it enough? How much did Itachi have to endure?

Sakura's arms began to swing out as she yelled at him, "All you do is lecture people! You're worse than Sai, and he was _trained _to be an emotionless asshole!" She paused for a second to gulp a breath of air. "And that's another thing – why can't you just be a normal human being? All I wanted was an apology – that's it! But you couldn't even do that!"

He'd have to endure much more, apparently.

"Probably because the _glorious_ Itachi can do no wrong. Sasuke told me all about your family, how you're the golden boy, winning wars and rescuing puppies," She continued, voice hoarse from her shouting. "You can flaunt your gorgeous hair and hot body all you want – I'm not falling for it!"

All Itachi could do was stare. Ragged breathing, shoulders bent forward, frazzled hair, hands fisted at her side – she looked like she just finished wrestling a bear and was waiting for another one to jump out and attack her.

Itachi wasn't a bear, and he had no intention of attacking the frantic pink-haired woman.

He took a slow breath, inhaling and exhaling completely. He counted to ten before finally speaking.

"Are you done?" He said softly, as tonelessly as he could.

Sakura opened her mouth, rearing to spew more insults, but decided against it.

Itachi knew it was his responsibility to make amends. He thought through his words carefully, making sure nothing would upset their fragile stalemate.

"I know you're . . . upset," Itachi said slowly. "And you're right, I should have apologized."

Sakura unfurled slightly from her aggressive stance.

"I can't change the past, but I'm sorry things have turned out this way," Itachi said. "I hope we can still work together as teammates."

Itachi paused, waiting for her to respond, but she remained resolute in her silence. Itachi recognized the stony mask Sakura wore; he'd worn it for most of his life.

"You need rest," Itachi said. "I'll take the couch tonight."

* * *

><p>To say that Sakura was overwhelmed was an understatement. There weren't words for what she was feeling. Betrayal, loss, confusion, hope – none of them even skimmed the surface of her churning thoughts.<p>

It had been almost three hours since she and Itachi talked. She laid on the queen-size mattress in the bedroom, staring at the ceiling. Itachi, as he promised, had settled on the couch for the night. Despite the physical distance between them, it felt like he was standing next to her, his presence demanding her attention.

She knew she should be resting – she still needed to heal physically and emotionally – but she couldn't soothe her mind long enough to find sleep. She supposed, technically, laying down was still resting, but it wasn't the same.

Nothing was the same anymore.

When her mind wasn't repeating her conversation with Itachi, it was toiling over everything else that had been inverted in the last twenty-four hours.

Sasuke was a traitor. Naruto was still in Konoha. Killer Bee was dead. Gaku was dead. Yaku abandoned them. She was effectively a prisoner in Kumo.

Every time she tried to grapple with any one of these issues, her mind would latch onto Itachi.

Uchiha Itachi.

What a stupid man to fall in love with.

When she first saw Naruto in that cell, unconscious and beaten, she felt indescribably relieved. She and Naruto stuck together, no matter the obstacles. Team 7 had changed over the years, gaining and losing members, but Sakura and Naruto had always been there. They would always be Team 7. She loved Kakashi and Sai, but there was a barrier there that Sakura had never been able to cross. With Kakashi, it was age. He was more of a father to her than a best friend or brother. Encouraging and lighthearted, Kakashi was someone she sought out for advise, not comfort. And Sai – well, Sai was in a league of his own. He was a friend, yes, but she doubted they would ever have the friendship she built with Naruto. And then there was Sasuke.

Oh kami . . . Sasuke . . .

Sasuke was . . . complicated. They'd never shared a particularly intimate relationship, but somehow the two had been on stuck on a seesaw of love, hate, love, hate. They were constantly cycling between wanting to deepen their bonds and wanting to beat each other bloody. Or, at least, that was true on her end. Recent events have proved that Sakura was wrong about a lot of people. Perhaps she was wrong about Sasuke, too.

She didn't want to be wrong. Especially about Sasuke.

The memory of Sasuke pounding on the barrier, manic with fury, came to the surface of Sakura's mind.

Sakura may have been enamored with the boy during her childhood, but adulthood and maturity had gifted her with newfound clarity in regards to Sasuke. She loved the _idea _of Uchiha Sasuke, but she didn't love the man himself. Rather, he was a good friend and teammate, someone she could rely on.

_My brother seems to be deliriously obsessed with you and has committed treason in order to win your affections, _Itachi's voice echoed in her mind.

Deliriously obsessed? _Treason_? Were all these things true? Could Sasuke really have betrayed their country for _her_? It didn't seem possible.

And yet, her gut was telling her that Itachi wasn't exaggerating. That, maybe, Sasuke might not be the man she thought he was.

Sakura didn't know what was worse: Sasuke betraying their country or Sasuke betraying her.

Shifting to lay on her side, Sakura rested her cheek against the cool side of the pillow.

She wasn't stupid enough to run to Sasuke, but she wasn't going to stay in this house either. Gaku said that she could come and go whenever she liked. What was preventing her from sprinting home to Konoha?

Oh, right. The twenty or so Kumo ANBU guarding the barrier's perimeter. Twenty versus two? Itachi and Sakura were good, but not _that_ good. And Sakura was still healing, so it would really be twenty versus one and a half.

Itachi was right. Regardless of their issues, they needed to be teammates. They needed to work together.

Her emotions weren't any calmer, but her mind had finally met its limit. Out of absolute exhaustion, Sakura fell asleep.

When morning finally came, the clatter of cooking startled Sakura awake. Instinct had her scrambling for the kunai under her pillow, but then reality settled in, and she remembered her surroundings.

The cabin. Gaku's barrier. Itachi. Not an intruder. Right.

Sakura dropped the kunai, which sunk into the plush comforter. With a bit of caution, Sakura stretched her sore body by systematically tensing and relaxing her muscles. Not even two days ago, her wounds were leaking puss and blood. She was surprised at how well she was healing. Her body was bruised and tender, yes, but the pain was tolerable. It was no worse than dealing with sore muscles after a particularly hard workout. There was nothing to do in this sealed dome but rest; she had no doubts her body would bounce back in a day or two.

Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Sakura slowly put her body weight on her legs and found minimal resistance. The thought of walking without a limp brought a welcome smile to her face.

It felt good to smile again.

Her smile widened at the smell of breakfast wafting into the bedroom. She put her full weight on her legs and stood up. Slowly but surely, she walked from the bedroom to the kitchen.

Sakura didn't enter the kitchen right away. She leaned against the doorframe, watching the man in front of her.

Itachi looked like an average civilian, an appearance Sakura had never seen on him. His hair was still wet from a shower, and the long ponytail was dripping down his back. He had found a change of clothes, exchanging the grey sweatpants and t-shirt for jeans and a black hoodie. Her eyes were drawn to his feet, where she found him wearing a pair of socks. Pink polka dot socks.

For a moment, it was easy to pretend things were okay. He could be her boyfriend, surprising her with a breakfast for two. They would sit across from each other at the table, their conversation light while they shared intimate smiles. Like puzzle pieces, their hands would be a perfect match, and the touch would feel natural. They'd laugh softly at his cooking, and she would offer to make breakfast next time – perhaps tomorrow, if he was free. And he would be. They were both busy, but their time together was precious. He would make time for her.

She had dated a few men here and there, but none of them had fit into her life. The life of a Chief Medic was uncompromising, and she never took it personally when someone else didn't want to share the burden. She had chosen this life, and she would accept the consequences. Being a medic was worth the sacrifice of a picture-perfect relationship.

Sakura would be lying if she said she hadn't entertained the idea of dating Naruto before. There was so much history there, and since he was already a major part of her life, she thought the transition from friend to more-than-friends would be seamless. It would be easy.

In Kumo, it was natural for Sakura to entertain those thoughts again. There he was, being the friend she'd always known him to be, but there was something different – a spark. She'd picked up subtle hints here and there, and she realized that Naruto was interested in her – _r__omantically _interested.

And when Naruto became Itachi . . .

Her head hurt making sense of it all.

Itachi turned off the gas of the stove, and turned towards her. "I prepared breakfast." He cleared his throat. "Would you like to join me?"

Sakura nodded, hobbling over to the dining table. She eased into the chair and, with a hiss, rested her bruised back again the hard wood.

While she got herself settled, Itachi brought over two steaming plates of rice and grilled fish. The portions were moderate, but the food had been a good choice; the protein and carbohydrates would help the healing process and fortify her chakra reserves.

She mumbled a thank you, and Itachi mumbled an acknowledgement in return. Sakura released a tired sigh. Mumbling was a good start, but she had hoped they would exchange actual words this morning.

Sakura reached for the fork placed beside her plate. Looking down had been her mistake. Spiraling underneath the white plate was Gaku's burned insignia. With a light touch, she traced the ashen lines. They were still warm.

Sakura didn't know how long she stared at the table, but when she looked up, she found Itachi studying her. His mask was very much in place, but there were small cracks betraying his concern and guilt.

Perhaps breakfast hadn't been a good idea after all.

Hastily grabbing the fork, Sakura dug into her food. Itachi followed her lead and began eating as well.

They didn't speak. They didn't look at each other. They may as well have been eating at different tables in different rooms. It was pretty high on her list of the most awkward meals she's ever had.

Determined to do _something_, she cleared her throat. "So–"

"How are–" Itachi blurted at the same time.

"What?"

"You go first."

"No, no, it's okay – what were you going to say?"

"It's nothing. Nevermind."

They locked gazes for a second before immediately looking away. Itachi had chosen to look at something above her head, and Sakura had decided that her food was suddenly very interesting.

After their failed attempt at conversation, they both returned to eating. And ignoring each other.

_Wonderful._

But, their diversion tactic was almost at an end; both their plates were nearly out of food. Sakura had even resorted to eating the rice grain by grain, and Itachi was chewing impressively slowly. Turtles walked faster than he was chewing.

Ten minutes later, the inevitable happened: every speck of food on their plates was gone.

Sakura was stuck between being frustrated by the silence and not wanting to take a chance on another conversation. She knew the ball was in her court – he had invited her to eat breakfast with him – but that didn't make her any less nervous.

"Can we agree that this is uncomfortable?" Sakura finally said.

"Hn," Itachi responded, a small smirk playing at the corner of his lips.

"So, are we . . . are we talking to each other again?" she asked, testing the waters.

"It seems that way," Itachi returned.

"Should we set, I don't know, ground rules or something?"

"If you feel that's necessary," he said.

Sakura was now operating on a "better safe than sorry" philosophy. So, yes, she did think it was necessary.

"We aren't going to talk about last night or anything else that's happened in the past week," Sakura began. "In fact, I think it's best if we stay strictly professional from now on. We're co-captains on a mission. We'll act and behave like colleagues would."

Itachi's eyebrow quirked up, his smirk growing. "Alright, so what doyou want to talk about?"

It was Sakura's turn to smirk. He was letting her make the decisions so he couldn't be blamed later. Sakura had been right about one thing: after last night, there was no way Itachi would leave himself vulnerable to her scrutiny. They both understood that the ice was already cracking under his feet. One wrong step, and he'd fall through.

"I think we should talk about the barrier," Sakura suggested. Itachi stiffened, but she waved her hand at his response. "Don't worry, we're not going to talk about Gaku."

Itachi seemed to relax, but the caution didn't leave his eyes.

"We haven't tested the barrier yet," Sakura pointed out. "Supposedly, I can enter and exit as I please. We haven't proved that to be true. If it's not–"

"Then we should plan our escape," Itachi finished.

Sakura nodded. "If I can pass through the barrier, then I can gather supplies and food as we need. But if neither of us can re-enter the barrier, then we need to prepare for the long haul. Rationing food, conserving supplies – nothing can be wasted."

"Sasuke is starving us out," Itachi said, his playful smirk now gone.

"Yes," Sakura reluctantly agreed. She didn't want to add to the pyre already under Sasuke's name, but she couldn't deny this fact.

"He's going to try and lure us out of the barrier," Itachi continued. "We should prepare ourselves for regular 'visits' from him."

They both paused to think about this new realization.

"Could we use them to our advantage?" Sakura suggested.

"How do you mean?"

"We need two things: information about the outside and to return to Konoha. Sasuke is the key to both of those," Sakura thought aloud, brow furrowed as she pieced together the current situation.

Itachi leaned back. "Go on."

"I could offer myself to him," Sakura continued.

"What good would that do?" Itachi scoffed.

"Sasuke isn't going to give us any information unless he trusts us. I already lied to him, so maybe offering myself would gain back some of that lost trust." Sakura sighed. "I don't know, it was just an idea. Forget it."

Itachi paused, mulling over her idea. The muscles in his jaw clenched. Sakura could hear the quiver in his exhale as he tried to control his breathing.

"No," he said, voice tense. "It's a good idea."

"Are you sure?" Sakura asked, surprised he would agree.

"Yes, I'm sure," he said. "It's the most viable plan we have at the moment."

Sakura nodded, but she wasn't sure his words were sincere. She couldn't tell if he actually agreed with her, or if he was trying to avoid another fight. Either way, he agreed.

Now, all they had to do was wait for Sasuke.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> I know their argument didn't end in passionate make-up sex, but I hope you guys still liked Itachi and Sakura's confrontation. I have a plan for their romantic build-up, and they're not quite ready yet. We're getting _much _closer, though ;) Heads up: when that moment does come, I may or may not change the rating from T to M. Also, sorry for a shorter chapter! I felt like it was a good place to stop before next chapter's shenanigans starts.

_Please read and review! Thank you!_


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